The words that changed the Friendship
by darktwilight418
Summary: How many words does it take to tear apart a friendship? A partnership? 24....that is how many it took to disconnect Booth and Bones. What happens between the two of them? DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN OR PROFIT FROM BONES OR ANYTHING RELATED TO THE CHARACTERS
1. Chapter 1I do not own Bones!

Sitting at her desk she knew that she should be doing work. Or maybe she should be in Limbo, trying to figure to give a name to any of 10,000 sets of remains that rested there. She kept thinking about what was going to happen.

It had only been one time. One time of foolishnish. One time. One time. she knew that it could happen, scientifically she knew that it could happen, but she didn't thyink that it would actually happen. She has had sex before, many times before, and nothing happened.

A baby…no, it was a fetus. She would not think of it as a baby. Booth's baby. She wondered if it might have his smile, his eyes, maybe his hair color. Hopefully it would have her brains, and his intuition.

She would not think about what it might look or act like. She wasn't going to keep it. She couldn't keep it. She knew nothing about babies. She could learn, but really, what would be the point? She had already been told that she wouldn't make a good mother. She just didn't have the, how was it put? Oh yeah, "**you just don't have the 'heart' to want to be a good mother. Yeah, you have the brains, but it takes more than that**."

She never really knew that those words would hurt that much. Never knew that they would follow her for this long….haunt her every day, as well as in her sleep.

She knew what she was going to have to do. Now all she had to do was tell Booth. Tell him that Parker was going to have a sibling. One that she didn't want, because of what he had said to her.

"Bones!!!" a voice yelled out. The voice that she had always longed to hear. The voice that had kept her sane when she and Hodgins had been buried alive by the Gravedigger. The voice that she heard every night in her dreams…well they were her nightmares.

"Bones, where are you? We have a case." Booth was getting closer to her office. She could hear him walking through the lab. Heard his footsteps coming closer to her. She knew that she needed to compartmentalize everything…because if she didn't he was going to know that something was wrong.

"Booth," she called out "I'm in my office. Let me grab my bag."

She knew the moment he stepped into her office. She felt his presence before he even said a word. His aftershave, his shampoo…everything about him hit her like a sledgehammer. She tried to soak in everything about him, because she knew that in a few short months she wouldn't be here.

"Lets go. Construction worker found a duffle bag on some property out in Manassas…" He stopped talking. She hadn't even looked at him when he walked in. But he could just tell. He knew that something was wrong. He felt it in his heart, but knew that he couldn't ask her about it. Knew that since his misstep he didn't have the right to say or ask anything about her life. He knew that even if he had asked, she would have just looked right through him.

Standing there just inside her office he thought about everything that they had been through. How their relationship as partners had changed throughout the years. He then thought about something that had happened quite recently...something that he wished he could change. The day he said only a few words…but he knew that those words would haunt her and him for the rest of his life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Three months ago**

"Parker, lets go!! You don't want to be late for your game do you?" Booth called out to his eight year old son.

"Daddy, is Dr. Bones going to come to my game?"

Booth groaned, "buddy, I don't know if she is going to be able to make it. I told her about it, but she didn't say anything about being able to come."

He knew that Parker wanted her to come, but he didn't tell her how bad he wanted her there. How bad he, Booth, wanted her to come to his game too.

When they got to the field, Parker kept looking around for her. Even as the game started, he wasn't paying attention to his coach. He started getting into the game…even kicking a goal. When he was surrounded by his teammates all he could do was scan the stands to see if Bones had shown up.

By the end of the game, Booth was furious with his _partner_. He couldn't believe that she would do something like that to Parker. She knew how much he liked her, but yet she stood him up. It really was more of his fault, because she hadn't really said that she was going to be able to come. He shouldn't have told Parker he mentioned it to her, but here he was.

"Hey buddy," he started when Parker walked up "you wanna go to the diner to grab a bite to eat? Your mom said it would be okay."

"No thanks. Daddy, where was Dr. Bones today? I thought she was going to show up. I wanted to show her how I could score a goal."

"I don't know where she was today. But next time I see her I'll ask her, okay?"

As they climbed into the car, Booth knew that the next time he would see Bones it was not going to be a happy occasion. She would probably give some scientific reason as to why she wasn't there. Something about how team sports weren't really sports these days, because they gave each kid a trophy even if they didn't win the game. How was that teaching kids about the real world? That was just teaching them that everyone was a winner, when she knew that wasn't the truth.

And how well he knew her…..

------

She was cooking dinner in her apartment when a loud, angry knock scared her. She had been thinking about Booth earlier today, in Limbo, and totally lost track of time. she knew that she had kind of told him that she was going to go to Parker's game today, but she got lost in thinking about him.

She thought about how he would bring over Thai food every couple of nights, and how they would just hang out and talk. Talk about nothing and everything.

She thought about his smile, his caring and loving smile. She remembered that smile that he gave her when she was up on the stage at the Chatterbox, right before he was shot. _That_ smile had haunted her in her dreams for weeks after the shooting, even after she found out that Booth hadn't been killed.

By the time she finished examining the remains it was too late. Parker's game had been over a long time ago. She felt bad about missing it, but instead of calling Booth she just decided to go on home.

"Bones?!! I know you are in there!! Open this door NOW, before I find a reason to break it down!"

She knew that he would be angry with her for missing the game, but until she heard those words she never realized how angry he was with her. She put her glass of wine down and calmly went to answer the door.

"Boo…" before she could get his name out, he was storming into her apartment.

Pacing for a minute before saying a word, he tried to reign in his emotions. He wanted to lay into her for hurting his son, but stopped because he wanted to hear her reason for not showing up at his game. He thought that they were going somewhere…thought, for one minute, that they might be more than partners.

He had dreamt about her every night for the past couple months. Some of the dreams were good, but most of them ended up with her being kidnapped by the Gravedigger. He just couldn't seem to get that one case out of his mind, knowing that she might have been lost forever.

He wanted to tell her that he needed, NEEDED something more with her. He wanted to tell her that for the last three years he had been in love with her, even though she didn't believe in love. He wanted to wake up next to her every single morning for the rest of his life. But he kept stopping himself….because he knew that she didn't feel the same way.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU TODAY??!!!"

She flinched at the anger and fury that came out with those words.

"Parker was waiting for you to get there, and he was looking for you throughout the whole game!! He kicked a goal, and he was looking for YOU!"

Booth could barely look at her, she noticed. She never realized how beautiful he looked when he was angry, but she had never seen him this worked up before.

"I'm sorry Booth…" she started to say but stopped when he swung around with fire raging in his eyes.

"You. Are. Sorry. That is all you have to say? Nothing else?" He spat out.

"I lost track of time working in Limbo. I guess I got too caught up in there, and I never realized how late it was." But she knew that when she said that, when those words came out of her mouth it was too late.


	3. Chapter 3

"_I lost track of time working in Limbo. I guess I got too caught up in there, and I never realized how late it was."_

He repeated that over and over in his head. She was working, and that was why she didn't come to Parker's game. It would always be work before everything else in her life. He didn't know why he even tried, because he knew that work was going to outweigh everything else in her life.

He hated her, but then he didn't. He wanted to hate everything about her. He wanted to hate the fact that nothing mattered to her....nothing fazed her...nothing touched her ice cold interior. He wanted to hate her with every fiber of his being.

But, he couldn't.

He loved her…he loved everything about her. He loved the way she moved. He loved the ways her eyes would scrunch up as she examined a pile of bones. He loved the way she would argue about not liking pie.

But in that moment, he realized that what he held dear and what she held dear would never be the same. In that moment, he lost control and until he returned home later that night he wouldn't remember a thing that he said.

"You were working. Of course, where else would you be." He said with disdain in his voice. Watching her he saw the way she flinched when he said that and he knew that it hit her.

"Why did I even think for a minute…a minute…that you were actually going to show up. Why did I let Parker think that you cared about him?"

In those words, she regained her composure. She had decided to let him say what he wanted, to get it over with. But, she never thought that he would be that mad.

With her eyes blazing, she jumped up from the couch and yelled back at him "I do care about him!! I was planning on going to his game, I really was! I was in Limbo, and got caught up thinking about…well, that doesn't really matter."

"It doesn't matter, does it? Nothing really matters to you, does it? Your family doesn't matter and neither do your friends. All you really care about are those damn bones!!!"

"Do not proceed to tell me what matters to me and what does not matter to me, Booth!"

With that she walked through her bedroom and into her bathroom and slammed the door. He had never seen her this mad before, but she had also never see him this mad either. He didn't know what to do, should he stay or should he leave.

He wanted to leave and never come back. He just wanted to be away from her...the one person, other than Parker, that had the ability to tear his heart apart.

He was at the door, ready to leave her apartment when he heard a sound that he had never heard before. _Bones!_ He thought to himself...was she actually crying? He had never really seen her cry before, and as heartless as this sounds, he didn't think she possessed the ability to show that sort of emotion.

Turning around, he walked back through her apartment and to her bathroom door. Standing there he was upset and pissed off, because he wanted to be angry with her but knowing that he had made her cry was not what he wanted on his mind.

"Bones....are you okay?"

Before he could say something else, the bathroom door flew open and out stepped...well, out stepped someone who was out for blood. His blood to be exact, and he was baffled as to how it was him who was in trouble rather than her.

"Do. Not. Say. Another. Word."

He could see that she was trying to regain control of her emotions, but she wasn't doing a very good job at it. He figured that she had never been this out of control before. Never actually been pushed this far by anyone before. And as nice as it was to see a different side of her, this is one side that he didn't really want to meet.

-------

She could barely contain herself. She couldn't even talk, that is how far gone she was. He actually thought that?!

"_Why did I even think for a minute…a minute…that you were actually going to show up. Why did I let Parker think that you cared about him?"_

I cared about Parker, much more than I should have. I didn't want children. I didn't understand women wanting to give up their jobs and their identities just to have children. But I knew that I cared for him.

"_It doesn't matter, does it? Nothing really matters to you, does it? Your family doesn't matter and neither do your friends. All you really care about are those damn bones!!!"_

My family never cared about me, she thought to herself. Really, why the hell should I care about them? I was abandoned by my father, my brother and my mother. My best friend left when her husband was offered a better job in India, go figure that one out. My best grad student was in jail, and I haven't been able to find one to replace him.

"I care Booth, I really do. But answer me this.....why should I care about the people that have left me? Every time I get close to someone, be it my dad, or Russ, or Angela....they always leave. I can't make them stay."

"Bones....."

"No, let me finish! Do not proceed to tell me that I don't care. I care more than any one person should. I care because every time I think it is going to be different, but it never is." She put her hands up to her face and ran her fingers through her hair. Staring out the window, she wished that she could just get swallowed up by the night sky. "Everytime I start to care, they just go away. They don't care anymore, so why should I?"

He came up to her, and tried to touch her. Tried to make her realize that he wasn't going to leave her. Tried to make her realize that Parker wasn't either....even though he knew that Rebecca could change that at any point in time.

He didn't have the chance to touch her, because she turned around and looked at him. Looked at him with disgust in her eyes. That look would haunt him along with these words.

"I'm Done. I'm done with trying to make people like me...trying to understand what they are talking about. I am done with peole leaving me. I am just, just done." When she said those words, she looked so defeated. She had just admitted that she had wanted people to like her. She was trying to be more personable, but she had never admitted something like that before.

"Tell him 'I'm Sorry.' I just couldn't make it. I was too busy, caring...wait how is it you put it? I was too busy 'caring about those damn bones. I guess I am just not cut out to be that mothering type, am I. I can't even make it to a basketball game."

Shock filled him. Then anger. Then something just overtook him and he just started yelling at her. Just layed into her.

"You want me, to tell MY son, that basically you don't care anymore? And explain to me, how am I going to do that?"

She looked at him and said "Why should I care? Obviously I don't care about him, do I?"

Running his fingers across his face, he just looked at her. Dumbfounded...he never realized that she could be this mean. That she actually had it in her to be this heartless. He couldn't take it, he lashed out at her and when he was done he knew that things had been broken between them.

"You know what, you might be right. You don't care. You never did. You never cared about the peole who were around you." He saw her take a deep breath, like she was going to cut it...but he kept right on going. "You don't understand what it is like to be a parent. And you know, it is probably a good thing that you never wanted kids." Her eyes started getting cloudy with tears, but that didn't stop him. "You wouldn't care. Just because you have the 'means' to have a baby doesn't mean that you nee one. You know, you just don't have the 'heart' to want to be a good mother. Yeah, you have the brains, but it takes more than that."

She just stared at him...............

**A/N........................please help me with this. review it. find mistakes. message me and tell me what you think!! this is my first fanfic and i don't really want to mess it up!!!!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Two months ago**

"Bren..."started Angela as she walked into her office, "what's wrong?"

She noticed that Brennan had been at work when she got there, and by the looks of her office and bones on the examining table she had been there for a while. Angela knew that something had happened between her and Booth, something major...something that broke them up. Not that they were dating in the first place. Not that they would admit that they had feelings for one another.

When Brennan didn't answer her, Angela moved closer to her desk to get her attention. That was something else that she and others had noticed in the past few weeks, she was always somewhere else. She was never really 'there' with them. She came into work every day, did her job examining the bones Cam brought her from Limbo and she went home every night. She stopped working on cases for the FBI too. She was there, every day. First one in, and last one to leave.

"Brennan!"

Jumping slightly she looked at Angela. _When did Angela come into my office?_ she wondered to herself.

She was getting fed up with herself. Now she wasn't even paying attention at work. How is it that she, Dr. Bernnan world renowned anthropologist, was letting a man get in the way of her work. A man that she never wanted to see again. Never wanted to talk to again. The one person that had been there for her these past few years, was the same person that tore apart her world with a mere two sentences.

"Yes, Angela. What can I do for you?" she realized that came out stronger than she intended to.

Taking a deep breath, Angela started talking again...but she was only catching bits and pieces of it. "We've been....about you. Haven't seen....ooth around....wondering....something...two?" She could see that Brennan wasn't really paying attention to her. She was staring at something across her office, and when she turned to see what it was she was not really expecting.

On a bookshelf, among artifacts that she had collected from her trips to far way places sat a picture. A picture that, surprisingly she had never noticed before. It was a picture of Brennan and Booth when they had gone to Las Vegas and ended up going undercover. She noticed that they looked so happy in that photo, and they had been in love...even then...even if they didn't want to admit it.

-------

She knew that Angela was still in her office, talking about something. Probably talking about how she was worried about her. But she couldn't take her eyes off that picture of her and Booth. They had had a fun time in Vegas, even though at the time she wouldn't admit it. She had gone undercover with him, pretending to be his girlfriend. She was wearing this black dress that he had picked out for her, and she still thought that it was too skimpy for her, but he seemed to have liked it.

She kept remembering some of the good times that they had together, but then stopped. She knew that they weren't partners anymore...hell, they weren't even friends anymore. In a matter of minutes she had lost her best friend. She felt like she had lost half of her heart or soul, even though she knew that scientifically she couldn't do that. Because if that were to happen, she would no longer be alive.

Taking her eyes off the picture, she turned and looked at Angela and smiled a half smile.

"Ange, I'm fine. I have just had a long day. I just want to go home and forget. Forget everything." Angela could barely hear the words coming out of her mouth. She knew then that something bad had happened.

When she first noticed that Booth wasn't coming around anymore she decided that she was going to give them their space. She wanted to give them time to figure out things on their own. But this crap had been going on long enough, and she was tired to ignoring the looks that floated across Brennan's face. Shock. Sadness. Anger. Guilt. She was tired of seeing her eyes shoot to the doors every time she heard them opening, knowing that the person she most wanted to see wasn't coming through them.

"Okay. For now. We ARE going to talk soon. I want to know what has happened to you and Booth..." and that's when it was confirmed that something was wrong. The look that shot across her face when she mentioned his name.

"Nothing happened. Nothing is going to happen. We just parted ways. He went back to the FBI where he belonged and I am here. I belong here with the bones, doing what I do best."

And with that, she got up from behind her desk and walked out of her office. Even when she heard Angela and Cam calling her name, she just kept walking. She kept telling herself that she needed to get out of there. She just walked and walked for hours. How long had it been since she had just taken a walk for fun? Months? Years?

Even after the sun had gone down, and the wind had picked up she just kept walking. She wanted to walk until the hurt was gone. Until the words were erased from her memory. She wasn't really noticing where she was walking either, until she looked up surprised. She had ended up in front of Booth's apartment. She didn't know what to do, she just stood there for a while.

--------

After Brennan left, Angela was thinking that she would be back. Knowing that she needed some time to herself, away from the lab and the reminders of Booth. She kept thinking that she was going to return. She knew that Brennan was coming to terms with whatever had been said between the two of them. Something that she hadn't dealt with yet.

After about four hours, Angela started to get worried. She tried calling her cell phone, but stopped when she heard it ringing from her office. Since when did she not take her phone with her. She always seemed to have it right next to her, especially recently. Every time it would ring she would check it before she answered it, and more times than not she would just let it go to voice mail.

She sent Hodgins down to see if her car was still in the parking lot. She called Sweets to see if maybe he had heard from her recently.

"No, Angela, I haven't heard from Dr. Brennan. For that matter, I haven't heard from Agent Booth either. I assumed that everything was still going okay, even though I hadn't seen them in about a month."

"They are fine Sweets. I was just wondering if you had seen her. She left the lab earlier today, and no one seems to know where she went."

"Well, haven't you tried calling Agent Booth? Itsn't it likely that she is with him?"

Here he goes again, she thought. He was trying to get into why we were calling him and not Booth. He was starting to sense that something had happened between them, and she needed to get him off their tracks soon. He didn't need to know that Booth and Brennan were no longer working together, but it was kind of strange that he didn't know that already.

"That is a good idea. I will call him, because he probably picked her up earlier without letting us know." She hung up the phone before he could say anything else.

Looking up, she saw Jack running across the floor with a worried look on his face.

"Her car is here. It hasn't even been moved from where it was parked this morning."

She knew that Brennan was able to protect herself from basically anything, except for a natural disaster really. She wanted to know where her best friend was...she wanted to make sure that she was okay. She didn't know what else to do, except.....she did.

Picking up the phone, she dialed the one person who might have known where to find her.

-----------

Sitting in his apartment, Booth was staring at his tv. The pictures that he saw were not from the tv, however, they were the pictures that had been playing over and over in his mind for the past month. No matter what he tried, he couldn't get that look of sadness that had washed over Bones' face, out of his mind.

He had been sitting there since he had been sent home by Cullen for being very short-tempered with a new agent. He cracked a smile remembering what had taken place earlier that day.

_"What do you mean you can't find the file? I gave you that file the day before yesterday and I told you to be VERY CAREFUL with it because it pertained to very specific cases. I told you that we did NOT want to lose this specific file, because it can not be replaced."_

_The young agent sitting across from Booth looked like he wanted to disappear into the chair that he sat in. He had heard that Special Agent Booth was one of the best agents that worked out of D.C. and that he was teamed up with some scientist lady who helped them solve what seemed like unsolveable cases. He had also heard that until recently they were still partners, but now many were wondering what had happened._

_"Sir, I know what you told me. I did not misplace the file..."_

_Booth took a deep breath, looked at the ceiling before returning his gaze to the agent. "Okay. So if you heard me, then WHERE IS THE DAMN FILE???"_

_"Agent Booth!!" _

_We both jumped up when we saw who walked into the room. It was Cullen, and he was not looking too pleased at the moment._

_"I have heard from no less than six agents that you have been very short tempered...and that was this week alone." He shook his head because he knew that only one person could rattle his best agent this much. "I heard you yelling at Agent Jones all the way from the elevator. And those doors were closed." He kept a sour look on his face, even though he wanted to smile. "Maybe you should go home for a while. Take a few days."_

_"Take a few days....and do what exactly??"_

_"I don't really care," said Cullen, and he continued "I just want you to go home before you happen to piss off any more agents."_

He was thinking about how he really shouldn't have gone off on that new agent, what was his name again? Oh yeah, Agent Jones. He was thinking that maybe he should partner up with him on a few cases. Let him know that he really isn't a bad guy, he has just had a really crappy month.

While he was sitting there, pondering what he should do for dinner, his phone rang. Reaching for it, he checked the number and did a double take. It had been a while since anyone from the Jeffersonian had called him. For a second, he hoped and wondered if it might have been Bones. But he knew that more than likely it was Cam checking up on him.

"Hey, Cam. What's up?"

He then heard a voice that he was not expecting to hear, and then knew that something was wrong.

"Booth....it's Angela."


	5. Chapter 5

She had been standing there for a little while before she noticed that Booth's neighbor was walking back to her apartment. She had taken her dog for a walk, and she was coming over to say something.

"Hey, Dr. B. I haven't seen you around recently. Hope everything's okay."

Brennan realized that she was just trying to be nice, not trying to pry into someone else's business. She decided that, for now, she liked her.

"Hi, Janet. Everything is great. I was just walking...but I don't know how I ended up here." Janet noticed that she kept looking up at Seely's apartment, like she wanted him to come look out the window. She also heard the unhappiness in Dr. Brennan's voice.

"Are you going up?"

She shook her head really quick, and started walking away. "Nope. I'll just head back home. Talk to you later."

She quickly disappeard down the street and around the corner, not really knowing where she was going. Again. She knew that to get home she was going to need to go back to the lab. She needed to grab her keys, and purse. That's when she realized that she didn't have her cell phone with her. She must have been in too much of a hurry to grab it earlier today.

_She looked sad_, Janet thought to herself. She realized that she hadn't really seen her around. Hadn't seen her coming over or leaving with Seely. She knew that there was something between them, but she also knew that he would never act on it. In the few times she had talked to him, she knew that Dr. Brennan was a very protective person. Protecting herself.....her heart....just, everything.

--------

_"Booth....it's Angela."_

He knew. He just knew when he got the call from her that something was wrong. She wouldn't be calling him, she was devoted to her best friend. She would never go behind her back just to get information from him. Unless something had happened to her.

"Angela! What's wrong? What happened to Bones?"

She knew then that Bren hadn't been by to see him. She didn't know what to do. She was scared for her friend. Scared that something might have happened to her. For a spilt second, she even wondered if she might have just left. Left everything behind to go do assist with a dig in some far off land.

"Angela...answer me!! What. Happened. To. Bones?"

"She's gone."

He heard those two words and if felt like someone had ripped his heart from his chest. He knew that he had caused this mess. Knew that his hateful words, in a moment of anger had led to this.

"What? Where?"

Angela started sobbing, and unable to answer any of his questions he heard the phone being passed to another person.

Jack started by saying "I don't really think that we should bother with this....but seeing as how _Angela_ called you, _I_ don't really have any choice."

"Hodgins....just....don't.....just......"

"We don't know where she is Booth. She was here earlier today, but after a conversation with Angela she just up and left." Booth felt the air slip out of his lungs, because he knew that if she had that much of a headstart he might never be able to find her. "We waited around to see if she would show back up, and she never did. I just ran do to see if her car was still here, and it is." Wait...her car is there?

"What do you mean her car is there? Then where the hell is she? Have you tried her on her cell phone?"

"Booth, we're squints. We are not stupid. We tried her cell phone, it's here. We tried Sweets and he hasn't seen her either."

Groaning, Booth knew that he was going to have to answer for that one in the morning. He knew that the first person to see him in the morning was going to be Dr. Sweets, wanting to know what was going on between him and Bones.

"Booth...you hve to find her. Please, you just have to." Angela was back on the phone now, basically pleading with him.

By then he was up and pacing around his apartment searching for a shirt and shoes to throw on. He knew that Angela wouldn't be asking if there was any other way of finding Bones. He knew that he had been their last resort....knew that in the past, he would have been the first person called.

"I'll find her, Angela."

He hung up the phone, grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. He ran into his neighbor Jackie as she was coming down the hall. She stopped him just as he was about to pass her.

"That Dr. B. is sure sad. Is there anything wrong with her these days?" He stopped dead in his tracks and whipped around.

"When did you see Bones...I mean Dr. Brennan?"

"Well, I watched her for about five minutes while I was outside walking Ripley. We saw her standing across the street, looking at your apartment. She was just standing there, like she was willing you to come to the window to look at her. You were Juliet to her Romeo. She was looking so sad, so we walked up to say hi. She didn't stick around though, which really surprised me. I thought that she might have been waiting for your or something...."

He ran off yelling thanks over his shoulder.

When he got down to the street he was looking around for any sign of Bones. Looking to see if maybe she had come back...praying that she had come back. Running down the street, he dialed Angela's number.

"Booth! Have you found her yet?"

"Not yet, Angela. But I know she was here. My neighbor saw her." He assured her that he was going to keep looking till she showed up, and hung up his phone.

Knowing that she had been there, watching his apartment, was killing him. Knowing that she didn't come to see him, come to talk to him....he deserved it. Anything she wanted to say to him, do to him...he deserved it. Now all he had to do was find her. Find a missing woman in Washington D.C. How the hell was that going to happen??

Running back to get his SUV, he spotted something on the ground. Right about where she had been standing was an earring. An earring that he knew well. It had belonged to Christine Brennan, Bones' mother. Picking it up off the ground, he prayed yet again. Prayed to any saint that might hear him tonight...prayed for her safe return...prayed and hoped that he wouldn't have to take another life.

--------

She just kept walking. She didn't know how and she didn't know when, but she ended up at the Vietnam Memorial Wall. She stared at those names as she walked. She knew that Booth was like each person, willing to die for his country. He believed that strongly in his country and his government. She kind of smiled at that thought.

She kept walking till she felt like she could walk no more. Those words were still there, in her mind. Haunting her, yet again.

_"You know, you just don't have the 'heart' to want to be a good mother. Yeah, you have the brains, but it takes more than that."_

Everytime, every single time she thought of Booth saying that to her, she felt ripped apart and empty inside. Technically she knew that she wasn't, because that would be impossible, but she felt like she was being torn apart.

She knew that she knew nothing about raising a child. Knew nothing about loving a child and reading them stories and being there when they skinned their knees. She realized she was not really cut out for motherhood. Her life was too busy, being here and there for this book signing and then the next day being in some remote village trying to help people claim their loved ones.

She knew that she wouldn't be a good mother, but Booth never believed that. He kept telling her that she would be great. Telling her that she does a gread job with Parker, that he really loves her. He got her to come to some of his soccer games and different things at school. Booth was the one who believed in her, no matter what. Believed that she could be around Parker and not hurt him...or let him get hurt.

She sat down on the edge of the Reflection Pool, just staring at the water. Watching the water ripple as the wind hit it. She saw how one little gust of wind could unsettle the entire pool. That is how she felt. Two sentences, said in the heat of an arguement had torn her away from her best friend.

She just sat there. She didn't know how long she was there before it started to rain. At first it started out soft and calm, but after a while it was pouring....and she just sat there. Letting the rain beat at her...feeling as though she deserved it.

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He drove and drove. Up and down all the streets near his apartment. Down by the Jeffersonian, even went into the garage to see if her car was still there. It was. He drove to Founding Fathers and didn't see her there. He kept driving, knowing that he had to find her.

_I have to find her...let her know I didn't mean it....please, let me find her._

He kept repeating this over and over in his head. Again, he knew that he had caused this. He knew that he was going to be the one to have to find her. The one to try to make it up to her. Knew that, basically he was the one that could mend her. And in return, he knew that she could mend him.

It started raining as he was driving around, and he still had no idea where the hell Bones was. He started thinking about other things that she liked. Places that she might have gone to. But many of those places were closed, so that narrowed down his choices.

He kept driving till he came to the Wall. The wall with thousands upon thousands of names on it. Names of those who have died for this country. Parking his SUV he got out and walked to the Wall. He would have been proud to have had his name on that wall, but then he realized that that wouldn't be possible. Many of his assignments were top secret, and those assignments did not put you up on the Wall.

As he was walking in the rain, he thought he smelt something...something familiar. He kept walking till he saw something that made his heart clinch. Something that he prays, he prays he never has to see again. But then he prayed again.

_I found her. Oh, thank God. I found her._

He kept repeating that. Over and over.

**A/N: I LOVE ANY FEEDBACK THAT THE READERS ARE WILLING TO GIVE ME. LET ME KNOW IF YOU FIND ANY MISTAKES. I AM TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN PERVIOUS CHAPTERS. KEEP THOSE COMMENTS COMING IN, PLEASE!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you so much for your comments!! This is the first story that I have put up to let other people read, and I am glad to be getting such a positive response from it. I am trying to put up at least one chapter a night, but if I don't get them put up, I am sorry.**

**wazo29, NatesMama, SouthunLady and makeminedreamy25....thank you soooooo much for the comments. I didn't know if people were actually going to like this story or not.**

The rain never let up. Never slowed down. It just kept beating at her, clawing at her arms and back. She was in pain at first, but she realized that the pain was not from the rainstorm. She knew the pain wasn't from the rain, she knew it was from something that terrified her even more. It was from needing someone that wasn't there for her.

She never used to be like this. The walls she had built up had been there since she was 15. When Russ left her by herself, to go into foster care. They had to go up even higher when she went to 'their house.' She still didn't like to talk about what had happened to her, and the fact that if Angela hadn't of been her friend she might not be here. She stopped feeling....well, she felt, but not for those around her.

Brennan just sat there, knowing that no one was looking for her. She was actually surprised that she wanted someone to come find her. But she knew that any friend she had had been pushed away these past few months. She snapped at Angela today, and Hodgins always sided with his wife. Cam was always going to be by Booth's side. And Booth, well he wasn't there for her anymore.

She didn't even realize that she had started crying, and she hated crying because it showed weakness. It showed that someone else was in control of your emotions, and she always had to be in control. She tried wiping them away, but they just kept flowing. Flowing down her cheeks, dropping off of her chin and falling onto her already drenched top.

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He watched her from a distance. Watched as she cried her heart out. He watched her as she tried to brush away her tears.

_I should be doing that. I should be over there comforting her. _He thought to himself...but then brushed the thought out of his mind. He was the one to have caused those tears. Even if she didn't want to admit it, his words had broken her. As strong as she had always been, words, his words, are what broke her. Nothing else in this world fazed her. Being kidnapped by the Gravedigger, being kidnapped while on a dig in El Salvador, almost being blown up. She dealt with everything, and moved on.

As the rain slacked up, he could hear her crying again. She was talking to herself, but he couldn't make out what she was saying.

"I just.......he......that. Thought.....me." Those words blew against his hears.

He drew himself up, and started walking towards her. Trying to be quite so he wouldn't scare her, but also trying to make some noise so she didn't turn around and try to beat him down. He didn't see when he steppend on the stick, but when it broke she whipped around to see what was stalking her.

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She realized that someone was behind her. Turning around slowly, she was shocked at who she saw. When she realized that Booth was standing there, she jumped up and started running. Running away from him. Running away from all the unwanted pain he had caused her. Never before had she let someone's words affect her like that.

_Never away_, she thought to herself. Never again would she let someone get that close to her. She couldn't take anymore people disappointing her.

She didn't realize that when she started running he was there behind her. He was calling out her name, trying to get her to stop. She wanted to run until she was far away. She didn't want to be here anymore. Didn't want to be in this city. Didn't want to be in this country. She just wanted to leave. To go far away.

She didn't want him to follow her, she knew that she didn't. But she wanted someone to yell at. She wanted someone to feel what she had been feeling. Someone to take away the pain that she had been feeling. She knew that there was a chance that she couldn't get away from him, so she slowed down to a walk.

She was waiting to see if he was going to say anything. If he was going to try to fix things like he had done so many times before. Not wanting to face him yet, she stood there taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. He then brought up the one person that would make her listen to him. Angela.

Trying to figure out what to say next, she turned around to face the man who had turned her world upside down. The man who she cared about, more than she wanted to admit. The man who had been there for her through everything. The man that she had hated in the beginning, tolerated for the sake of her job, grown to like, and then slowly grown to love.

She never wanted to want someone else, to need someone else again. She wanted her mother and father, but then they left her. She wanted Russ, but then he left her too. She didn't want to rely on any other person, because she knew that, in the end they would leave her too.

"What do you want, _Agent Booth_?"

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He knew that he had scared her when she turned around. He didn't realize how bad until she ran away from him. She had never done that before. She had always run from the danger to him. Now, in her eyes, he was the one she was scared of . He was the danger to her.

"Bones! Bones, wait!!" When she heard him calling out to her she didn't falter. She didn't want to.

"Angela is worried about you. You left without telling her where you were going."

He knew that he hit a chord, when she stopped running from him. He knew that if he mentioned her friend, that she would stop. He didn't know how much she would listen to him, but he had to give it a go.

Waiting for her to turn around, he started thinking about what he wanted to say. Would he be able to say anything that would get through to her? Or would he be shut out like the night of Parker's soccer game. He didn't really know, but he knew that in order to attempt to make things right between them he was going to be the one to admit and accept blame for the things that were said that night.

"What do you want, _Agent Booth_?" He heard the sarcasim dripping in her voice.

She whippped around to face him. Her blue eyes had a fire behind them that he himself had never faced before. He had seen them flash at suspects before, especially when they were dealing with young victims. He could see the flames building, the anger radiating off of her.

Taking a breath, he said "_Dr. Brennan_, Angela is looking for you. Obivously she is worried about you."

"Then why the hell did she call you?"

"Bones..."

Eyes blazing, she said "Do not call me that. My name is Dr. Temperance Brennan. You do not have the right to call me that anymore."

He took a step back, because it felt like she had slapped him. He had never, in their years of working together, heard her speak like that towards him before. Not when he arrested her father, or her brother. Not even when she thought he was being too overbearing, too protective of her.

"Why did she call you? Why? Explain to me, why she would call you? She had no reason to."

"She didn't know who else to call, Brennan. You didn't take your phone with you when you left. She got worried, so she called me. She knew that I would find you."

She started shaking her head, not wanting to hear what he was saying to her. He was acting like nothing had happened between them. He was acting like he actually cared about her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, he knew that he did....but she just pushed that thought down. She didn't want to think about him that way anymore.

"Why would you care? I still don't understand why she needed to call YOU!! She knew that I didn't want you to come. She knew that. Why did she have to, of all people, call you?"

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She was losing control of the situtation. She knew it. She knew that, at some point, she was going to lose.

_"Why would you care? I still don't understand why she needed to call YOU!! She knew that I didn't want you to come. She knew that. Why did she have to, of all people, call you?"_

Saying those words, having them actually come out of her mouth, weakened her. Her knees slowly started to give. She knew that she would be hitting the ground, and she didn't want to get back up. Everything was getting to be too much for her to handle. She was always so strong, never wanting to she weakness, and now it was basically pouring out of her like the rain.

It never happened, though. She never felt the ground. Even though she knew it was coming, she didn't feel it. Maybe she had blacked out before she hit the ground? Maybe she was just laying there, letting the rain pour down on her.

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He saw her starting to falter. He knew that she was starting to lose the drive to argue with him. He was losing the will to keep away from her. He wanted to grab her in his arms a shake some sense into her. He wanted to tell her, to let her know that he never meant a word that he had said.

_"Why would you care?"_

Those words were still echoing in his ears when he noticed that she was about to faint. Running, he grabbed her up into his arms before she could hit the ground. He held her to his chest, hugging her, kissing her hair. He knew that when she woke up she might remember, she might not, but he had to hold her. He had to, because he knew that he might never get the chance again.

He walked back to his SUV, still holding her to his chest. He opened the door, and leaned the seat back while he was putting her in the vehicle. He brushed away the rain that was still running down her face, before kissing her gently on the forehead. Running to the drivers door, he opened it and jumped in.

As he was driving off, he made a phone call to Angela. He had to let her know that he had found her. Knowing that if he didn't call her, she would be worrying all night long.

"Hello. Booth?? Have you found her yet?"

"Got her. I'm taking her back to my place. She has been sitting out in the rain, and she fainted when she saw me."

"Oh, my....please....help her.....she has been so lost...." she started crying, and he heard her giving the phone to someone.

"Booth," Hodgins started, "are you sure you want to take her home? You can bring her over here. We can take care of her."

"Hodgins, I am going to take care of her. She will call you in the morning!"

Throwing the phone into the backseat, he looked over at her to make sure that she was still gone. Driving back to his apartment, he kept glancing at her. He had to keep making sure that she was okay. After all that had happened to her that night, he just wanted to make sure that she was alright. He ran his fingers down her cheek, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Bones, you have to be okay. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean to hurt you like I did. Please, you have to forgive me." Knowing that she couldn't hear him, he just kept on talking. "You can't leave us. Angela. Hodgins. Cam. They are all worrying about you." Speeding down the road, he kept looking over at her. "You can't leave me. I know that you want to leave. I can see that you don't want to be here anymore, but you just can't leave."

When he reached his apartment he carried her inside, but she still hadn't come to. He carried her into his room and laid her on his bed, all the while wondering when she was going to wake up. He paced back and forth, rubbing his hands through his hair. He just kept talking to himself. Repeating the same thing over and over again.

_"You can't leave me, Bones. You just can't. You can't shut me out anymore."_

**A/N: PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT HOW THIS STORY IS GOING THUS FAR. LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS ABOUT WHERE THIS STORY SHOULD GO TOO. I THINK I KNOW HOW THIS IS GOING TO END, BUT I WOULD LIKE EVERYONES OPINIONS!!!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I DO NOT OWN BONES, OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS FROM THE SHOW. I DO NOT PROFIT FROM THIS IN ANY WAY!! :(**

**THANKS FOR ALL OF THE COMMENTS...THEY MAKE ME SMILE. I KNOW THAT IS KIND OF DORKY...BUT IT'S THE TRUTH.**

**I am going to try to get a chapter written every day, because I don't know how long this is going to be. Seeing as how it is taking so many chapters for each thing (in my mind, hehehe) it might end up being a big, long thing. **

_"You can't leave me, Bones. You just can't. You can't shut me out anymore."_

He kept saying it over and over again. Afraid that if he stopped, she would cease to breathe. Afraid that if he stopped talking to her she would slip away from him. He couldn't let her go. He couldn't let her slip further into her mind.

He knew that if she built up the walls again, higher, stronger, no one would be able to penetrate it. Not him. Not Angela. He couldn't let that happen. Not again.

Coming up beside her on his bed, he knelt down and started gently touching her face. Wanting to remember each and every curve, from her cheeks to her lips, from her chin to her nose. He never wanted to forget her face, because he knew that one day she would be gone from him forever.

"Bones…come on. I know you can hear me." He said it as gently as he could, because he didn't want to scare her. "Bones…I know you are in there. Come on honey, you gotta give me some sign that you hear me." Smiling at himself, because he knew that she would have been able to she would have smacked him for calling her that. "Bones" then switched to a name that he rarely used, if ever "Temperance. I know you hear me."

He just sat there. Watching her for the next couple of hours, he realized that she must have been exhausted. Just sitting there, watching her he realized that he didn't want her to leave his bed. He wanted her to lie there, in his bed every night, for the rest of their lives.

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When he first got to her, she didn't know what she was going to do. She wanted to run from him. She wanted to get as far away from him as she could. But then she couldn't.

Before she knew it, she was falling to the ground, and he had come to rescue her. Again. He was always there to save her. But what was going to happen to her when he wasn't there for her anymore?

She didn't really think of anything when he carried her to his SUV. The only thing she thought of was the fact that he was holding her close to his chest. Keeping her eyes closed, she just laid there listening to his heart beat. That steady beat that was there for her.

She vaguely heard him talking to her when they were driving. She tried to listen to him…tried to hear what he was saying, but she was so tired. She hadn't slept well since their argument, replaying his words over and over in her dreams.

She kept having nightmares about him yelling at her. Remembered him storming out of her apartment, slamming her door in his wake. She remembered the thundering silence after he left.

Slowly waking up, at first she didn't realize where she was. Knowing what had taken place earlier that night, she felt humiliated. Never had she acted like that before, especially in front of Booth. He knew her as a strong person, not letting anything affect her. Nothing touched her.

Opening her eyes slightly, she looked around and saw someone lightly sleeping in a chair at the foot of the bed. The bed, she realized, was not her bed but Booth's bed. Sitting up, she just stared at Booth.

He had seen better days. She had never seen him unshaven, but by the looks of his face he hadn't shaved in a couple days or more. His hair was rumpled, like he had been running his fingers through it. Just looking at him, broken down and defeated looking broke her heart.

She just sat there, staring at him, not wanting him to wake up. She wanted to be able to remember his face….every worry line, every single thing about him. Because she knew that this was a turning point. Either things were going to get better or worse between them.

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He realized that something was wrong. Realized that her breathing had changed. With all his training as a sniper, he could register even the slightest change in the air around him.

He opened his eyes, and looked around the room to see what had awoken him. When his eyes reached the bed, he stopped breathing. He tried to will himself to breath….tried to do anything to take his eyes off of her, but he couldn't.

The moonlight was coming through his curtains, hitting on her auburn hair. He could make out the different hues, and wanting to run his fingers through each of them. He could see where she had been crying. Her beautiful blue eyes were still swimming with tears.

How he longed to reach out and hold her. He wanted to take away the fear that she held in her heart. Wanted to show her that he hadn't meant a word that he had said.

"Bones? How you doing over there?" Her eyes slowly made their way to connect with his, and when they did, the tears started down her face again.

Jumping up from his chair and coming across the room he sat down on the bed next to her. Taking her into his arms before she could resist, he held her to his chest.

"Please don't cry, Bones." She just kept crying and he just kept talking. "I didn't mean to hurt you like I did. I didn't mean what I said." Taking a minute to kiss her on her head he looked down at her. She had never looked more alone than she had in that second. "Please know I didn't mean it." He could hear her crying starting to subside, so he kept talking. "Honey, please stop crying. You are going to have to stop, so that you can glare at me for calling you 'honey.' Come on Bones, this isn't like you."

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"_Come on Bones, this isn't like you."_

She snapped to when she heard that.

"What did you think? That you could just tell me that I couldn't or wouldn't be a good mother and that I would be okay with that? Just because I have expressed in the past that I did not want to be a mother, does not mean that I have not or cannot change my mind. I am a person, Booth, and people are allowed to change their minds once in a while."

He tried to get out of his arms, tried to get away from him, but he wouldn't let her go. The more she fought him, the tighter he held her in his arms.

She looked up at him, wanting to lash out at him, but something made her stop. She saw the hurt in his eyes. It wasn't there from the tongue lashing that she had just given him, but from the reminder of what he had said to her.

Then she did something that would change both their lives forever.

She reached up and pulled his head towards hers, and brought her lips to his. When they touched, it was like nothing she had ever felt before.

First they started slowly, but then the kissing became much more ferocious. She was running her tongue between his lips, trying to get him to open them. When she succeeded, she started running her tongue all over the inside of his mouth. Wanting to taste every bit of him before he tried to push her away.

Running her hands over his face, they moved to his hair….his perfect hair. She started feeling his hair, running her fingers through it. She wanted to touch every strand that she could.

**A/N: WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN BETWEEN BOOTH AND BONES?? ARE THEY REALLY GONNA GET IT ON?? I AM GOING TO TRY TO GET THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS FINISHED. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT THIS STORY SO FAR.**

**LET ME KNOW IF YOU THINK IT IS TAKING TOO LONG!!!!!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I AM TRYING MY HARDEST NOT TO MAKE THIS STORY TOO BORING OR TOO LONG….BUT RIGHT NOW I DO NOT KNOW IF I AM SUCCEEDING. **

**Let me know what you think….if you have any ideas about how this story should go!!**

**And remember….keep those comments coming!!!!!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BONES OR ANY CHARACTERS!!!!!!**

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He didn't know what to do. Should he push her away? He had always wanted to feel her lips against his…wanted to know if they were as soft as they looked, but never like this. He didn't want to feel like he was taking advantage of her.

He could feel her tongue, begging him to open his mouth and he couldn't deny her that. When it entered his mouth, he started to melt. He wanted to run his hands through her hair…and down her back, and down her legs.

He had always wanted to kiss her, but never dared to do so. He knew that if he had tried, he would probably laying in the hospital before he even knew what had hit him.

He shuddered when her fingers started running through his hair. If there was any way to bring him down, it was through his hair. He loved it when women, Bones especially, touched his hair.

Slowing down the kisses before they became too much for either one of them to handle, he pulled her face from his. He wanted to look in her eyes to make sure that this is what she wanted. He didn't want to push her. He knew her…knew that she had to go at her own pace…as far or little as she wanted to go.

She readjusted herself onto his lap, facing him, letting him know that she wanted this as much as he did. He brought her face to his and started kissing her again, but much or gently this time.

He slowly started taking her shirt off. Pulling it up over her head…watching her hair fall down against her back. It was then that he realized that she didn't have a bra on. Her luscious breasts were staring at him, inviting him to touch them.

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When he had stopped her, she thought it was because he didn't want her. But then, staring at him, she knew that she needed this. She needed him to be apart of her.

He took her shirt off and just looked at her. It wasn't in a way to make her feel cheap, like she was some head of cattle at an auction. He was looking at her like she was a woman.

She leaned close to him and ran her hands down his chest, feeling his shudder at her touch. Taking his shirt in her hands, she pulled it up over his head and threw it on the ground.

She was in awe. Of course she had seen a mans chest before, she wasn't a prude, but this was different. She had seen Booth's chest before too, but not in the way she was seeing him now. Before, he was her partner and her best friend. She never thought of him that way. Now she was actually seeing how beautiful he was built.

She ran her fingers up and down his chest, before returning to his face. She pulled him to her, bringing his lips to hers again. She could feel him between her legs. She could feel the pressure starting to build inside him.

In a spilt second she had gone from sitting on top of his lap, to laying underneath him on his bed. He had flipped her over, and she didn't even realize it.

Watching him lean over her, she knew that this was right. If only for right now, this night, they were going to be together.

"Are you sure?" This brought her out of her trance, as she stared at him. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Booth…." That was all she said.

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"_Booth…."_

He heard that, heard the longing in her voice and leaned forward and kissed her. Slowly, gently at first. Then the fire started raging in them again.

He felt her hands go down his sides and meet back up in the center, just under his stomach. He felt her undoing his 'Cocky' belt buckle, felt her fingers slipping in between his pants and his waist. He barely felt her fingertips as they pushed his pants down…until he felt them running up the backs of his legs.

He reached down and undid her pants, pushing them down with one hand while the other hand was running through her hair. Pulling his hand back up to touch her face, he wanted that reassurance once more that this was what she wanted.

Looking at her, in his bed, under him and undressed made him want her even more. He kissed her and rubbed his hands up and down her sides, comforting her just as she was doing to him.

When he couldn't contain himself any longer, he pushed into her and felt something that he hadn't felt before. Not with Rebecca or Cam or any other woman that he had ever been with. He felt whole, and complete…like she was made just for him. Like they were meant to be together.

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When she felt him enter her, she knew too, that they were perfect for each other. Knew that he would satisfy her every need, want and desire. She had had men before him that were decent lovers, but realized that from here on out not other man would hold a candle to Booth.

But she couldn't bring herself to admit it to him. Couldn't say those words that she needed to say, for fear of rejection. She couldn't be left again…she wouldn't be able to handle him leaving her.

Running her hands up and down his back, feeling his muscles, she started kissing him again. They took up the rhythm of the storm outside…they were in a frenzy…they had to make each other happy.

She heard him whispering her name in her hair, as he was riding through another orgasm. She felt him trembling as it was ending. She felt his fingers running up and down her sides, felt him rubbing her stomach and coming up to rest on her breasts.

Then she flipped him over, when she knew that he was at his weakest point. She ended up on top of him, sitting there with the moonlight splashing over her. She leaned forward and started kissing his stomach, training down with her fingernails.

She felt his muscles wavering at her touch, getting weaker the further down her hands traveled. Looking up at him, she saw him staring at her and so she started moving back up. Kissing each muscle, rubbing them with her hands, she made her way to his mouth.

She gazed at him for a couple seconds before kissing him again. She felt his hands running up and down her back, getting tangled up in her hair.

She sat up again, pulling him up with her. Gazing into his eyes, she lowered herself onto him and started to ride him. He started kissing her neck, so she threw her head back, giving him room to trail down to her chest and back up again.

She kept sitting like this, on him, staring at him, kissing him…long after they were finished. She didn't want this to end. She didn't want to go back to the world where he was mad at her, and they didn't have a partnership any more.

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He almost lost it completely when she sat up, bringing him with her. He didn't want her to stop. Didn't want her to tear her eyes away from his. He wanted to feel her, and remember her like that.

While he was kissing her neck and running his hands down her back he was listening to her softly say his name. Repeating it over and over…never wanting her to leave him or be away from him.

When she was just sitting on him, kissing him, he knew that something had changed. He didn't know if this was going to be a one time thing for them or if maybe they were on their way to being something more.

He was afraid that if he said anything about it, he would scare her off…so he decided to wait. Wait her out, as long as she needed. He was not going to push her, or make her feel like this was a one night stand.

He wanted her to know that he cared about her. According to something Angela had said long ago, he loved her. He had never wanted to admit it to her, he knew how she felt about love. Knew that she didn't believe in it…it was just the endorphins or something in the body reacting with something else.

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They laid there, legs intertwined for the rest of the night. Neither one of them wanted to move away from the other.

She had finally fallen asleep, but it wasn't a dreamless sleep. She had the dream again, the one with Booth yelling at her and leaving. When she woke up she felt strong arms around her, holding her down. She looked up and saw that Booth was looking at her with sadness and guilt in his eyes.

"Why do you look like that, Booth? What's wrong?"

She didn't know if he had felt guilty or upset about what had just happened between them. She started pulling away from him, wanting to get away from him.

Tightening his arms around her, he said "What were you dreaming about? You talk in your sleep you know."

Sighing before answering him, "I was thinking about that night, about how you were probably right." He tried to interrupt but she kept going. "I know that you didn't mean what you said, you were just upset about the game and all, and that is okay. It just took a while for me to get through that and to lock it away." Booth started shaking his head and wanted to say something, but she put her finger to his mouth. "It is fine, Booth. I am fine. I do have the knowledge to have a baby and to raise one. I do have the funds to give the baby a nice life. But your right, I don't have the heart to be able to care for one."

Not wanting to give him the chance to say something she quickly closed her eyes. She didn't go to sleep right away, but she listened to him breathing and she thought she heard him sigh once or twice.

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He didn't know that he could feel this way. He didn't feel this way when he lost his buddies overseas. Didn't feel this way when they realized Bones and Hodgins had been taken by the Gravedigger. Didn't even fell this way when he realized that Bones had gone through hell when she thought he was dead.

He felt like she had stuck her hand through his chest, and ripped his heart out of it. He didn't realize that his words would affect her that much. That those words would change her whole outlook on life.

He knew that at one time she wanted to be a mother, but now, because of him she dropped all of those hopes and dreams. He didn't know what he could do to change her mind, to show her that she could be a good mother, but he knew that he was going to have to try.

**A/N: I AM TRYING MY HARDEST TO MAKE THIS STORY GOOD. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF IT IS TAKING TOO LONG.**

**AS ALWAYS, COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED AND WANTED. THE COMMENTS ARE WHATS MAKING ME WRITE THIS STORY FASTER!!!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I am hoping that everyone is liking this fanfic so far. I am trying my hardest to get at least a chapter or two written up every night, so that you all can read and enjoy them. If you happen to see any mistakes or see where I have repeated or done something wrong from another chapter….please feel free to let me know1!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BONES OR ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE CHARACTERS OR THE SHOW….SO SAD.**

**One month ago**

She had slowly let her friends back into her life. She started talking to Angela again. Started sharing small smiles with Cam, even though they had had their problems in the past. Hodgins even started calling her Dr. B. again.

It had been a couple weeks since her little 'episode' and thankfully no one mentioned it to her. Well, Angela asked her if she was okay and when she answered that she was, it subject was dropped.

The interns even noticed that she was nicer to them. She started coming out of her office more than she used to. She was helping with more than just the cases from Limbo.

She knew that nobody in the lab had deserved her swift change in attitude, but as she found out, they were all there to stand by her side. They realized that even she was entitled to having a bad day. Well, her bad day had turned into about two bad month's.

Slowly, they realized, that maybe all was returning back to normal. And it all started with a phone call.

"Dr. Brennan, phone call." Hodgins called out from his spot in the corner.

Going into her office for privacy, she wondered who might be calling her. No one called her here anymore, not since she stopped working with Booth.

"Dr. Brennan here."

"Dr. Brennan," the voice started. She was surprised, after not hearing it for a while, "This is Cullen here. We need you to assist us with a case, if you don't mind."

Thinking about it for a moment, she said "What is the case? Who is the agent?"

"A worker at a daycare found a young child buried in the back of their playground. We have people on the scene, but we want you there to make sure that nothing is left behind. We cannot mess this case up." She noticed that he had not answered her other question.

"Who is the agent on the case?"

Sighing, he said "Agent Booth got this case. We can assign it to another agent if you two cannot work together."

She hadn't talked to him since their night together. She knew that they couldn't keep avoiding each other. They had to talk to at some point. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she missed having him in her life.

She missed having him near her every day, missed his tendency to become all alpha-male when it came to her safety. She missed his presence in her lab and missed eating Thai food with him every couple of nights.

She knew that she didn't need him in her life. Understood that by letting him back in, she was just inviting him to say more things to her. Even if she didn't believe the things that he had said to her, the words still cut deep.

"Dr. Brennan? Are you willing to work with Agent Booth or not? I kind of need an answer now."

"Yes, of course. I am willing to work with him." She thought she heard him breath a sigh of relief. "How is this going to work? Is he going to come here or do I need to go to the scene?"

"He will be by shortly to get you to the scene. It is a bit of a drive and much smarter to take one car instead of two. Thank you again Dr. Brennan."

With that she hung up the phone to wait for Booth.

---------

After getting off the phone with Dr. Brennan he couldn't believe that she was actually willing to work with Agent Booth again. He didn't really know what had happened between the two of them, but knew that is was something serious.

He remembered the voicemail that he received a couple months back, and remembered the anger that he heard in her voice. He also remembered yelling for Agent Booth to be summoned to his office.

"I am calling for Deputy Director Cullen. This is Dr. Temperance Brennan and I am calling in regards to my partnership with Special Agent Seely Booth. I am requesting that we not be assigned to cases together in the future. If the FBI needs assistance from the Jeffersonian then my assistant Zack Addy will be the person to assist you. I will work from my lab to assist him in any way, but I will not be working in direct contact with the FBI or Special Agent Booth any longer."

Dropping the phone back into it's cradle, it was all he could do to hold himself together while waiting for Booth to get to his office. He wondered how long he would last till he blew up at him for upsetting the finest forensic anthropologist in the region.

Watching the elevators, he knew the exact moment Booth stepped on his floor. He could see him stopping to chat with fellow agents, lingering as if he knew he was going to get yelled at by his boss.

Taking a deep breath before yelling "Agent Booth!!" He saw him jump, "My office, NOW!!!"

Cullen saw, that even when yelled at Booth still took his time getting to where he was supposed to be. He faced away from the door, because he knew he would lay into Booth the moment he entered the office.

He turned around, only after Booth had been standing at his doorway for a short period of time. He briefly looked at him before waving him into one of the seats stationed in front of his desk.

"Agent Booth…."

"Yes, sir…what is wrong sir?" He had caught the fact that Cullen was upset with him.

"I am going to ask you one question. Just one…and I would like the truth. Got it?!"

Cullen liked the fact that Booth seemed nervous. He could see the wheels in his mind turning, trying to figure out what he was going to say next. Wondering what had happened, if he had caused anything, which required him to sit in front of the Deputy Director.

"What, if anything, did you say or do to Dr. Brennan?" Seeing that Booth was not understanding his question, he went a bit further. "Have you said something to upset her in any way…let's say, in the past week?? The past month?"

---------

He didn't understand it, but when he got back to the office that morning, he was informed by no less than six other agents that he was to go straight to Deputy Director Cullen's office. He was not to go to his office or make any unnecessary stops along the way.

Staring at the buttons in the elevator, he was willing the thing to just stop halfway up. He was already having trouble getting through the day without yelling at another agent. All the stuff that had gone on with Bones was starting to affect his job. He couldn't let that happen.

It was bad enough that he wasn't able to sleep through the night without having dreams of her leaving him, and dreams of watching her get injured on the job. He didn't need to be getting called into the bosses office like…well, like he was in high school getting called into the principals office.

Reaching the floor that he had been dreading, he slowly stepped out of the elevator and was greeted by a fellow agent. They were speaking about a case that they had both been involved in, when Booth heard someone yell at him, making him jump.

"_Agent Booth!!" He saw him jump, "My office, NOW!!!"_

Rolling his eyes at the agent he was speaking with, he turned away from him and walked to Cullen's office. He stood there until he was noticed then entered when Cullen waved him to sit down.

He could see the anxiety and aggravation in Cullen's face. Knowing some of the trouble he had caused the man in the past, he was hoping that the looks crossing over his face were not caused by him.

He realized when Cullen turned to speak to him, that he was in fact, the person that was responsible for his less than sunny demeanor. Waiting till he was spoken to first, he just sat there…waiting.

"Agent Booth…." Cullen started to say.

"Yes, sir…what is wrong sir?" He had caught the fact that Cullen was upset with him.

"I am going to ask you one question. Just one…and I would like the truth. Got it?!"

Nodding, Booth waited for his boss to speak. He could not fathom what he had done to warrant getting called into Cullen's office like this. It had happened once before, and that was when Bones had shot a suspect in the leg.

He knew that in the past couple weeks he might have been off his game a tad bit, but never had he let that jeopardize his work. He cared too much about being an agent to let something petty get in the way of his job. Or so he thought.

"What, if anything, did you say or do to Dr. Brennan?" Seeing that Booth was not understanding his question, he went a bit further. "Have you said something to upset her in any way…let's say, in the past week?? The past month?"

Shocked, really, he didn't know what to say next. He never realized that what had happened between him and her had affected her that much. He didn't realized that she was going to take it this far.

"Why do you ask sir?"

"I am asking, Agent Booth, because I received a phone call from Dr. Brennan informing me that she would no longer be working with the FBI. And that she will not longer be working with you. I would like to know what was said to done to break up such a great partnership. Please, enlighten me."

Choosing his words very carefully Booth said "We have had…um…a tiff, so to speak. I do not know why she isn't willing to work with me, but if that is the case…then so be it." He could see the shock on Cullen's face. "I do not need _Temperance Brennan_ to work with me on every case."

--------

Cullen remembered that day very well indeed. He had seen the look on Agent Booth's face when he mentioned Dr. Brennan. He knew that they had a close relationship, closer than any relationship he had seen before. He knew most agents were friends with their partners, but doubted that they were as close as Booth and Brennan.

When he got word that a child had been found in the corner of a daycare he knew who he had to assign to the case. Now they only thing was getting them to work together. How the hell was that going to happen.

Grabbing up his phone he called down to Booth first, to let him know that he was being assigned to the case. It wasn't too hard convincing him to take the case, whereas in the past few weeks he'd rather stay in the Hoover building.

Hoping not to press his luck with Booth, he also told him who was being assigned to work the case with him. After a few minutes of arm twisting and telling him how bad they needed her on the case, he finally relented. But only after telling Cullen that it was his place to call and let her know.

He knew that he would be lucky if her could get her to agree to work with him again. He knew that they only way to convince her to do so was to bring up the case and to inform her that the victim was a child.

When he got off the phone with her later that morning he was quite proud of himself. He didn't know how he accomplished it, but he had managed to get his best team back together. Hopefully they didn't kill each other before they found out who had killed the kid in the playground.

**A/N: PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW I AM DOING. LIKE I HAVE SAID IN THE PAST, I AM TRYING TO GET THROUGH THE CHAPTERS AS FAST AS I CAN. I AM TRYING TO GET TO THE PRESENT. IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS…LET ME KNOW.**


	10. Chapter 10

**KEEP THOSE COMMENTS COMING IN!!! I AM HOPING THAT EVERYONE IS LIKING THIS STORY SO FAR. I AM HOPING TO GET A COUPLE MORE CHAPTERS UP IN THE NEXT DAY OR SO…..WE GOT ****MORE**** SNOW TODAY…SO WHO KNOWS WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN.**

He didn't know how it happened. Didn't know what Cullen had said to her, but something must have been said because he was driving down the street to a crime scene with Bones.

It had been such a long time since she had been in his SUV, not since that night that they had both lost their heads. He didn't even see her the next morning. When he woke up she was already gone, and there was no note or anything left behind. It was like she was never even there.

It didn't matter that she had not said a word to him since she had gotten into his SUV. It didn't faze him in the least that she had not even looked at him once. Nothing like that bothered him, because he was off thinking about something else.

He was thinking about how drawn up she looked. How pale and thin and unkempt she looked. In the many years that he had known her, she had never looked like she did today. Not even when she returned from a dig down in Chile had she looked like this.

Wanting to ask what the problem was, he bit his tongue. No right, not anymore. He had no right, anymore to ask about anything to do with her life. He could see it in her face, the way she carried herself that something concerned her.

---------

She didn't know what to do when he got there, didn't know how to act. She was waiting for him down in the lobby, not wanting him to come up to the lab. It wasn't a place that he was welcome anyways, at least not when she was around.

He didn't say a word to her. She was willing him to say something…anything. But nothing. No hello or how are you doing or anything like that. She wondered if he was still mad about her leaving before he woke up. But she had to get out of there.

Staring out the window, the silence was louder than any conversation she had been apart of in the past two months. She couldn't look at him, because she knew if she did he would start questioning her appearance.

Angela had been getting on to her these past few weeks. Fussing over her because of her hair and her clothes. She didn't care, because she didn't go out into the field anymore. She only needed to wear something that was halfway presentable, because it wasn't like her bones were judging her.

She knew she had lost weight. She knew she hadn't been eating like she needed to. Understood, more than most that she needed to eat more food. She knew that she needed the nutrition to stay alive (kind of dreadful aint it).

Sleeping was something that she needed to do too. She wasn't able to…hadn't been able to sleep a full night in a while. A night…one night…without nightmares would be welcomed.

When they arrived at the scene, most of the other agents gave them a wide berth knowing how their attitudes had been in the past. She ignored them, Booth most of all, and went about her job dealing with the body.

"We need everything sent to the Jeffersonian. All the dirt around the body, that includes the bugs and anything else you might need." She told an agent standing near her.

Brushing her hands off on her pants, she started loading her equipment back into her bag. When she was finished she stood and walked back over to Booth's SUV to wait until he was done.

She hadn't noticed the look the agent had given Booth when she told him what to do and not Booth. She didn't see the questioning look in the other agent's eyes and Booth shrugging to say that he didn't know what was wrong.

---------

He saw them arrive at the scene. He knew how Dr. Brennan and Special Agent Booth worked crime scenes. She looked at the body and told him what needed to be done. What she needed. He was her voice when she was at a scene.

Working with Dr. Brennan before, he knew that she liked to be right near the bones, as close as she could get. He was proud that he had gotten enough experience to be allowed to work alongside her.

Seeing them arrive, he felt a change in the atmosphere. He had heard that something had happened between the two of them. He also knew that she hadn't been out in the field in about two months...knew that she didn't want to be out there with him now.

He also knew that he had been blessing out his fellow agents. So much so that no one wanted to be partnered up with him until he cooled down again. Everyone knew that something had happened between him and that doctor, but no one had the guts to come right out and ask him what happened.

They knew if they asked her, they would probably end up in the hospital with any number of broken bones. They would probably also have internal injuries that wouldn't be explained away by saying that they had fallen into some furniture.

Asking him was out of the question too. Who would want to ask a Special Forces trained sniper what was going on with him and the doctor? They knew if they asked he could kill them and make it look like an accident, or at least get rid of the body and not have it traced back to him.

He saw how she didn't acknowledge any agent, how she just went right to the body and began doing her job. He could see that she was in particular ignoring Agent Booth.

When she was done, she surprised him yet again. She spoke to him…and that was something she had never done before. Used to in the past, she would speak to Booth, who would in turn tell everyone what she wanted done. She actually looked through Booth to speak to him.

"_We need everything sent to the Jeffersonian. All the dirt around the body, that includes the bugs and anything else you might need."_

He was shocked. Never before, at a crime scene, had she talked to anyone other than Special Agent Booth. That's when he realized that something bad had happened between them.

Nodding at Dr. Brennan's request, he signaled to his assistants to help him gather the materials that she had requested. He watched her walk off, completely ignoring Agent Booth. He looked over at him with a questioning look and all he did was shrug his shoulders.

---------

At least he wasn't the only one noticing _Dr. Brennan's_ weird behavior. Never would he have thought that she would actually talk to someone out at a crime scene. She never had before….until today.

Shrugging at the agent's questioning look, he walked over to his SUV so he could take her back to the lab. So many things were running through his mind…so many things that he wanted to say to her, to scream to her. But nothing came out.

He couldn't yell at her, he cared for her too much. Even when she went and beat down the gang leader, he couldn't yell at her. When she got kidnapped by the Gravedigger, he wanted to yell at her for getting herself into trouble again.

He couldn't, though. He could not bring himself to yell at her, or to do anything to cause her pain. He also didn't want to give her a reason to hate him more than she did now.

They drove back to the lab in silence. Complete silence. Breathing, that was the only thing you could hear. Breathing…nothing more and nothing less.

--------

Over the next week she never went anywhere else but the lab and her home. She had to find out what had happened to the little girl they had in their lab. She wanted to know who killed the little girl and buried her body at the back of her daycare playground.

Everyone was focusing on this case. They knew that the child had been buried, and they knew that she was dead when it happened, but in the beginning that was all they had to go on. Then they started getting the test results in.

"Dr. B…I've got something for you!" She could hear Hodgins shout across the lab. She knew that it must be good if he was yelling at her.

"What did you find, Hodgins?" She saw him smiling, so that must be good.

"I found mulch in her clothing. She was buried in sand, not in mulch." She didn't understand what he was saying, so he went on. "This particular brand of mulch is used only in the upscale community. I know, because that is what is used in my front yard. This stuff costs about two hundred dollars for a ten pound bag." He saw Angela's eyes get big, but carried on. "Also, it is only available at about five different stores in all of D.C. and only for about three months out of the year."

"Okay…what does that tell us Hodgins? That she is most likely from an upper class family?"

They knew that. They knew that her parents both worked at a bank here in D.C. and they knew that they had both been out of town, separately. Their daughter had been staying with her nanny, who had reported her missing.

Booth had talked to the nanny himself, and relayed all the information he could get from her to Cam. He told her that he thought that the little girl might have been kidnapped from her backyard, because that is where the nanny last saw her.

That was weird, finding out all this information on the victim from Cam. Booth always used to call her, or bring her with him when he went to interview the families. Maybe this is how things were going to be handled from now on…maybe this was all for the best.

She stood there for a minute, staring at the bones laid out in front of her. She was trying to figure out what had happened to this little girl. Picking up each bone and carefully looking over them, she went over every detail, trying to pick up on something that wasn't supposed to be there.

Who had buried her? What had happened to her?

---------

Angela could see Brennan's eyes focusing on the bones in front of her. She wondered what else might be going on in her head, but then she knew Brennan. She was not thinking about anything but this little girl. This little girl who lost her life, and they were trying to figure out what had happened to her.

"Oh….." Angela looked back at Brennan.

---------

"Oh…."

She had found what happened, and now she had to tell Cam. She had to tell her to call Booth because he had to go arrest the victim's nanny.

"Cam, I figured out what happened. I don't know how it happened, how someone could do this, but this is what happened. She was hit in the chest with something hard. You can see here," pointing to a part on an upper rib "you can see where it looks like some blood is pooling here. She was hit with something very hard, and it caused her rib to puncture her aorta."

Cam looked at her before saying "Why didn't I see this when I was examining her organs earlier? Why didn't we see the blood?"

"I figure that this was done a little before she died, and the puncture wound is so small that you might have missed it. As for the blood, if you call Booth and have him examine the container that they keep the mulch in I think you will find where she was stored."

She took a step back, took her gloves off, and rubbed her face. This case was hitting her like no other case had before. How could someone hit this little girl that hard to break a rib so it could kill her?

She had to get out of here. At least get off the examining platform, because she couldn't look at this little girl anymore.

-------

After requisitioning the nanny, Booth found out that she had been the one to hit the victim. She had 'accidentally' hit her with a free weight when she was exercising. She didn't want to take the girl to the hospital for fear of losing her job, so she just watched her at home.

That evening when she was helping her to get ready for bed, she saw how big the bruise was getting. She told herself that if it wasn't looking better by morning, she would take her to get help. That morning when she went to get the victim up, she was already dead.

Booth couldn't believe what he was hearing. Instead of calling for help she took the body out to the shed and placed her in the mulch container until that night when she could do something with the body. Then she had taken the body to the daycare center to bury her there, because she knew the little girl had fun there.

The next day she called the cops saying that the little girl was missing. She played the part very well…so well in fact that she had Booth fooled.

He called Cam to tell her that he arrested the nanny, and she told him that Brennan was back in her office…back staring at her relics. She hadn't been this way in a while, but something had triggered this in her. Something made her retreat into herself again.

What could he say to her? What could he do to help her? He has asked himself this many times and still gets the same answer…silence. He can do nothing…he will do nothing. This is something that she needs to do for herself.

**A/N : THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE COMMENTING ON THIS STORY. **** I know nothing about writing the creepy death scenes…so excuse me if some things are wrong of if what happened is not possible. Let me know if I am wrong, and I will try to change it, but it doesn't really have any affect on the story (I don't think.?).**

**DO NOT FEAR, IT IS GOING TO GET GOOD IN THE NEXT CHAPTER OR TWO. I JUST HAD TO GET THIS OUT THERE, SO THAT YOU COULD 'SEE' HOW SHE WAS TREATING HIM AND HOW OTHER PEOPLE WERE NOTICING IT TOO.**e He


	11. Chapter 11

**Now I am doing no more flashbacks…well, at least right now!!!**

**I am glad that everyone is liking this story…hopefully there will be more of this story to come.**

**Present…no more flashbacks!!!!!**

Since they had solved the case involving the little girl that had been buried in the backyard of her daycare center, she had been going out to the scenes more and more. As much as she wanted to say that disliked going with Booth, she was happy that things were semi-back to normal.

He still ignored her when he was driving, but he would come into the Lab to pick her up. He would even yell at her like before and she would yell back, but nothing more was said between them.

What was she going to do? She knew that Booth wanted more kids, he loved Parker…but how was she going to tell him that she was pregnant. How was she going to get him to believe that this child was his?

Knowing about the body as she did, she knew she was going to need to tell him soon. Knowing Angela as she did, she was surprised that she hadn't noticed something was strange before now.

"Bren…sweetie, what are you doing?" She didn't even notice that Angela had come into her office, and the look on her face told her that she had been standing there for a while.

"Angela. What are you talking about? I am not doing anything, except working on my notes. I need to turn them over to Cullen before he sends Agent Booth over here to collect them from me."

"Honey, why are you calling Booth _Agent Booth_ again?"

She took a deep breath before answering Angela. How was she supposed to handle this? Should she just tell her…because she wanted to tell someone? She needed someone to talk to about this. She didn't know what to do.

"It's nothing, Angela. Do not worry about it." She started shaking her head.

"I can't not worry. Please talk to…." She interrupted Angela

"Angela, do not worry about it. Do not worry about me. I am fine…everything is fine. I am not at liberty to discuss Agent Booth right now. Please, let me do my work."

With that, she turned back to her computer to wait for Angela to leave her office. About two minutes later, she finally did leave but not before some parting words.

"You cannot shut me out Temperance…you cannot afford to. If you haven't noticed people are starting to not like you. You are starting to become mean and irrational. Your interns aren't even speaking to you. Hodgins won't come in here and talk to you unless Cam or I are in the room with him, and Cam is starting to get annoyed with you. We all know that you aren't talking to Booth, but you will not tell any of us why. Talk to me, before you run me off too."

-----------

She couldn't believe that she had just talked to Brennan like that. Never before had she needed to talk like that, because most of the time if you reasoned with her, she would listen to you.

Shaking her head, she started thinking about what she had said to her.

"_You cannot shut me out Temperance…you cannot afford to. If you haven't noticed people are starting to not like you. You are starting to become mean and irrational. Your interns aren't even speaking to you. Hodgins won't come in here and talk to you unless Cam or I are in the room with him, and Cam is starting to get annoyed with you. We all know that you aren't talking to Booth, but you will not tell any of us why. Talk to me, before you run me off too."_

Hodgins noticed her walking towards her office and followed her in. He watched her as she went over to her desk, and looked like he wanted to ask a question. When he saw the look on her face he waited for her to speak first.

"She's shutting me out again, Jack. What am I going to do?" He looked at her, but said nothing. "She is shutting me out, and what's worse, she is shutting Booth out."

"Maybe she doesn't need to talk to him Angela. Did you ever think about that? He is the one that made her like this in the first place." She started shaking her head. "Don't disagree with me on this, because you know its right. She used to be a bit mean to people, but now she is not even talking to them. She isn't even teaching _her_ interns, Cam is doing that." She sighed, and he continued. "He did something, said something to her to make her turn into herself. All she does is come to work, do her job and leaves to go home. Have you even seen her out of work for the past three months?"

She sat there thinking about what Jack had said, knowing that everything was true. Every single thing was the true, and knowing Brennan like she did it wouldn't help her in the long run. Everything that happened to her shaped her, good or bad.

"What can I do for her Jack? What can I do to help her? I can't ask Booth to talk to her, because knowing Brennan like I do he would probably end up in the hospital or something like that."

"But he did do something to her. Has she said anything?"

She shook her head before answering, "Nope, not a word."

When she didn't say anything else to him, he took that as a sign for him to leave. She sat there, staring at her computer wondering what to do next.

For as long as she had known Brennan, she had known that if something big were to happen to her it could help her or destroy her. Within her childhood she had been abandoned by her parents, and then in foster care she had been beaten down and destroyed by her foster parents.

What had made her do this, she wondered. What had been said to her…what had been done? Something had changed her, something not too different from what had happened in her youth.

She sat there for hours, trying to figure out what had been done to her best friend. The friend she would give everything up for.

----------

What had she done? She had driven away her last friend. The last person…the only person she could talk to about something like this. Angela had been there since she was in high school, and she had saved her life when she was locked in the trunk.

She needed to talk to her about this baby. What could she do? What should she do? She couldn't have an abortion but what else could she do?

She loved Booth…oh how she loved him. She could remember the day that they first met. She could remember the way he talked to her, like he didn't need her help.

Often during the day she thought about him. She thought about the way he could walk into a room and completely take it over. She used to know when would come into her office, just by the smell of his aftershave. After he would leave, she would sit there and just relish in the leftover smell.

She loved how he treated her like she was unable to care for herself. Sometimes she didn't like it though, being treated like she couldn't protect herself. She knew how to protect herself in the different parts of the globe that she had traveled to.

Why couldn't he treat her like a woman? He knows how to treat a woman right, but why does he not treat me that way?

If he knew about this baby what would he do? Would he try to marry her? Because if that was the case, he was sadly mistaken. He knew that she didn't believe in marriage, but he might try to pressure her into it.

She wouldn't do it. She wouldn't marry him because of this baby. Just because she didn't want it, because she knew that she would be a horrible mother didn't mean she needed him to tell it to her every day.

She would have to leave. She needed to get away from here. Away from every memory of him. Every memory of the two of them together.

Where would she go? Where could she go that was far enough away from his reach as an FBI agent? What would she do with the baby? She couldn't keep it, but what else could she do…at least without Booth finding out?

----------

What could he do to make her talk to him? Could he say anything….or do anything? Should he tell her the truth or continue to lie to her and to himself? If he wanted to tell her the truth, how would he do it? Where would he say it?

These things kept going through his mind…while he was driving, and working, and eating, and while he was supposed to be doing everything! He could get nothing done, because he kept thinking about Bones.

He loved her, and he didn't know what to do about it. Telling her flat out was plain out of the question. He couldn't beat around the bush, because she would never figure it out. If only they were working together better.

If only…if only…

If only he hadn't opened his big mouth after Parker's soccer game. If only he had told her how he felt years ago. If only Angela and Cam and Hodgins weren't around the lab all the time. If only they didn't know how he felt about her.

What the hell was he going to do? He knew that if he didn't do something soon, then his time would be gone. One day she would meet a guy that cared for her and she might actually care about him too. She might decide that marriage isn't too bad anymore.

He was afraid that someone was going to come around and take her away from him. Even though she wasn't around him any more than she needed to be he still watched out for her. He didn't her to be gone from him.

He couldn't go days and weeks without seeing her again. It had been torture when she wasn't going to scenes with him, and he had been stuck with Zack. It had been hell not being able to talk with her, not being able to go to her house just to see her.

What was he going to do if she started dating someone and up and decided to get married. What would happen if she decided to go on some ancient dig for five or six months and leave him and everyone else behind?

It wasn't like there was something going on between them, but if she were to leave then that would mean that there was nothing between them at all. If she were to leave, then that meant that nothing would ever happen.

He would not try to have a relationship with someone who ran away every single time things got hard. He knew that she would be able to leave too. He knew that she was needed, wanted even by many people around the country. She was the best forensic anthropologist, after all.

What could he do? Nothing…that is what he could do.

**A/N: WHAT DOES EVERY ONE THINK SO FAR?? IS IT GETTING BORING?? LET ME KNOW IF THINGS NEED TO BE SPED UP. WE ARE GETTING TO THE GOOD PART.**

**KEEP THE COMMENTS COMING!!!!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I am thinking that there aren't going to be any more flashbacks…but we are going to go ahead and help move the story along some. I think this chapter is going to be about a month into the future…I think.**

**I DON'T OWN BONES…..SO SAD!!**

**One month later**

It had been over a month since they had solved the case involving the little girl buried in the daycare center playground, and Booth still hadn't been able to talk to her. They had been together for other cases, but he didn't want to ask her what was going on. He could see in her eyes, her movements that something was bothering her.

Reading her hadn't come easy to him. As a trained sniper he had been taught to read people...to know their movements. It had always been apart of him, lingering in the back recesses of his him. Knowing when someone was lying to him, knowing when someone was telling just enough to make him reach for the truth.

He knew her. He knew that she was blocking the pain from something. Did someone speak harshly to her? Did some guy lay a hand on her? That wasn't possible, because he hadn't heard from Cam that she had put someone in the hospital. Again.

Going to the scenes used to be the highlight of his day, and not because it meant there was a new case either. He liked being there near her, being able to watch her. Knowing that he was her partner and knowing that she preferred him over any other agent made him smile. Then one day he stopped smiling.

What would happen if and when she got tired of ignoring him? When she realized that she didn't need him to do her job anymore? Would she try to get a new partner? Would she pack up and leave for some god-forsaken country? Would she keep him as a partner, but continue to ignore him, day in and day out?

These questions popped into Booth's mind at the most inconvenient times. It had happened when he was in a meeting with Cullen, on the phone with Rebecca talking about Parker, and it had happened last night when he was at a bar with some other agents.

Each breath that he had taken in the last years, how many he didn't remember, had been for her. Each time she smiled at him, talked to him, or even looked at him warranted a breath. He knew, in his heart, that she would never love him...he was okay with that. He was just happy to breath. He was happy to be around her, even if she didn't feel the same way about her.

A ringing sound brought him out of his mind, and back into reality. Rubbing his hands over his face before he reached for his phone he sighed. Hopefully it won't be Cullen, because he couldn't work with her today.

"Booth."

"Cullen here. We have a case for you and Dr. Brennan." He looked up at the ceiling throwing prayers up trying to get him to change his mind, but knew that no amount of praying would get the Deputy Director to change his mind.

"What type of case, sir?"

"A body was found in the Potomac, in a locked trunk." He knew that this was going to be a long day.

"Alright sir, I'll be there in thirty minutes."

He laid there for a minute after hanging up his phone, debating on whether or not to call Bones. He hadn't actually called her himself in four months, depending on Cam and Cullen to do his dirty work. He realized that Cullen was tired of it, and was making him do it himself, today. Calling her had never been a problem, he had wanted to do that so many times in the past, but he had always stopped himself.

He would not hurt her again. Never again would he say something to bring the anger and sadness out of her again. As she didn't speak to him, but would still go to crime scenes with him, he was fine.

All he had to do was work up the courage to actually dial the number he knew by heart. Picking up the phone before he could chicken out, he began to dial.

_Ring-Ring, Ring-Ring......._

--------

She had been trying to read an anthropology journal when her phone stated ringing. She debated on whether or not to answer it. She knew who it _wouldn't_ be from.

The longing had stopped. The needing had too. She didn't need to hear from him every day, every week for that matter. She saw him at work, occasionally, when they had a case. Although they didn't talk directly at one another, he was still there. She was able to drink in the sight of him, able to study him.

When they first started working together again she noticed how loose his suits were hanging on him. Noticed how pale his face was looking, like he hadn't been eating correctly or been going outside a lot. She saw how quite and reserved he had become. He was no longer the loud and boisterous agent he had been.

When she finally looked at her phone, she almost dropped it. _Booth_. He had called her, and she had been too caught up in her musings to answer the call. He had called...that was all she could think about, the fact that he ha called her.

Then it started again....the ringing.

"Hello..."she said kind of breathless.

"Dr. Brennan? Agent Booth. We have a case." She was deflated a bit. When had he ever called her Dr. Brennan? Not since they first started working together had he called her anything but Bones.

"A case?" He heard her say before continuing, "A body was found in a trunk, floating in the Potomac." Not knowing what to say next, he sighed.

She wanted to say something comforting, but knew that it wouldn't sound right. He didn't need her comfort. He had made that clear when Cam and Cullen where the ones to call her about a case. She wondered why he would be calling with one now.

"C'mon Brennan...we gotta get this solved. I'll swing by to pick you up."

"Twenty minutes?"

"Good." With that he hung up the phone.

She sat there, holding her phone, and realizing with a start that she had tears running down her cheeks. When had their relationship turned into this? She never wanted it to be like this. Yes, he had hurt her more than he or anyone would ever know, but she still cared. Didn't she?

He had hurt her almost as bad has her parents had. They had left her, but it turned out that it was for a good reason. Her brother had left her too, but because she blamed him and he couldn't handle her rejection. But what he had done, and said, it felt like she was back in foster care.

She knew she was stronger than this. Knew that his words shouldn't still hurt her like they did. She should have been able to mull them over for a day or two and then boxed them up in her mind, so she wouldn't have to think about them anymore.

She couldn't handle the emotions. The emotions that he had brought into her life. Even with Angela, who was over-emotional, she had never been too forthcoming with her feelings. But with him it had been different. So when he told her that she had been overcome with emotions.

It wasn't too hard telling yourself that you wouldn't be a good mother, she thought. Not being raised by her mom, she knew that she would not be able to do it. But any time in the past when there had been something that she thought she couldn't do, Booth was always there to tell her that she could do it. He always gave her the strength to go and do what needed to be done.

She always thought about him when something would come up that she thought she wouldn't be able to do. Standing behind her father when he was on trial for murder, letting Russ back into her life, and rescuing her from the Gravedigger...she always drew strength from him. She always thought about him.

She still thought about him, still wondered how things were going between him and Rebecca. Wondered if Parker had scored any more goals or shots or touchdowns...what ever he did. She always wanted to ask him if his back was still hurting, because she knew that he had been having some problems with it.

Before she realized it, the day was over and she was back in her lab getting ready to go over the remains that were found. She sat in her office for a minute, her mind drifting back over the day, relishing in the fact that they had been able to go to the scene and to lunch without talking to one another. The time with Booth had slipped by so fast; it made her want to cry.

But she didn't. With a deep breath she stood and walked out of her office, and up to the platform to begin her job.

----------

She didn't know it, but he had been standing there in the shadows the entire day, watching her. Watching how she disregarded her 'partner'....watching how she went about her job with an air about her. Like she was better than everyone else.

She thought that he had left her, and he had, but she didn't know that he came back. He wanted her so much that he gave up what he wanted for her. Little did he know that he wasn't as important to her as she had been to him.

No one saw him watching as she examined the trunk. No one saw him take the camera out, or saw him taking pictures of the woman he loved.

He stood there watching as _Special Agent Booth_ stood a few feet behind her, watching her while she worked. He watched the agent, and knew that he had to do something to win her back. Booth had always been there for her, but he had to show Tempe that HE was the one who really cared for her.

All he had to do was plan it out. Plan out how they were going to be together again.

--------------

At the crime scene today he watched her from behind. Wanting to run his fingers through her hair, he clinched his fingers together to keep from doing so. Always wanting to reach out and grab her up into a hug, he had to look away from her and ended up staring out at the river.

What would he do if she was the victim of a crime like this? Anger. That was the only thing that came to his mind when that thought crossed his mind. If she were to end up like this victim, he hoped he never found the person who did that to her. With all of his training and expertise he could kill and dispose of a body without being found.

Holding his breath, he looked down at her back, knowing that if he lost her he would be lost forever too. Even if he lived her death, survived it, he would be living a half-life. He could not survive without the other half to his heart, his soul. Even if she would not acknowledge the fact that they had once had a wonderful friendship, he would keep that in his heart until the day he took his last breath.

Looking around at the agents walking the scene, he felt the hairs on his neck stand up. He felt like someone was watching him and Brennan so he started walking around to see what he could find. Unable to find the source of his discomfort he returned to the spot that he had been standing in for the past two hours, right behind Brennan. Her protector...even if she didn't need him anymore.

--------

At the scene she felt what he did. Felt like someone had been watching her the entire time. When she looked up to see if Booth was behind her, she noticed that he had taken to walking around the entire scene, like he was looking for something. She noticed the defeated look on his face, however, when he returned to stand behind her. Her alpha-male partner. How much she cared for him...much more than even she would ever know.

She had to tell him about the baby...but how could she tell him now? He wouldn't even talk to her, except to tell her about the case. She thought she felt him watching her today, but when she would turn to look at him he would be staring off in the distance. How could she tell him now?

How.......

**A/N: WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT THIS STORY?? SHOULD I KEEP GOING ON WITH IT?**

**LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!!!!!**


	13. Chapter 13

**I am working on this chapter now...listening to my kid talk on the phone. Hopefully this story won't be too many more chapters. I know this story must be getting boring for some people!!!**

**wazo29 - thanks a bunch for your help...you are in the inner circle (is that right)? **

**Two months later**

_Four months, almost_.....in a couple more weeks she was going to start showing, she thought to herself. What was she going to say when people noticed? She was surprised that she hadn't already started showing by now. In the past few months she had lost more weight than she could spare.

She was surprised that Angela hadn't noticed the fact that she was getting bigger around the middle. Angela probably just thought that she was getting back to her old self. She wasn't sleeping at the Jeffersonian anymore, and she was actually eating lunch without being forced to. Everything was going back to normal...even things with Booth.

She heard the clicking of the heels before she saw the actual person they belonged to. Knowing what time it was she stopped working on her notes and shut down her computer. Pulling her sweater tighter around her, she looked up at her best friend who came bearing lunch.

"Bren...I decided that we needed some Italian food today for lunch. I hope you don't mind but Cam and Hodgins wanted some too. I have everything set up upstairs. Is that alright sweetie?" She thought about it for a second, knowing that if she said no it would be a step in the wrong direction.

Nodding, she said, "That sounds good to me. Did you get breadsticks with the dipping sauce?"

Angela brightened up, saying "Yep, I got them especially for you." She was waiting for her to come with her. "You know that Hodgins doesn't like 'that crap' as he calls them. And Cam is having lasagna; she's on a diet, shhh!!!" She smiled when Angela told her that like it was a secret. "Come on, Bren...we don't want the food to get cold."

Getting up she followed Angela to the table where the food was set up. She could see Cam, Hodgins, Zack and a few interns sitting around talking. Slowing down to assess the situation, Angela turned and frowned at her. She walked back to her and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Sweetie, why are you scared?" She saw the look in Brennan's eyes. Knowing her as she did, she knew when Brennan was feeling out of place...feeling like she didn't belong. "Come on and eat lunch with us. Please."

She turned and looked at Angela for a minute, and then she nodded. Maybe eating lunch with everyone again would show them that she wasn't as mean as she had been showing for the past few months. Hopefully she would be able to hold this lunch down too. She knew that if she didn't she was going to have a lot of questions to answer.

Hopefully no one would notice the fact that she was bigger...but if Angela hadn't noticed she doubted that anyone else would. Nobody else had the nerve to stare at her, trying to figure her out. Nobody except for Booth. He was the only one, other than her, that would notice the subtle changes in Brennan's body.

Hodgins was the first to look up, "Dr. B. coming to eat lunch with us today?" he said smiling.

"Hello, Dr. Brennan. Glad to see you could join us." Cam said with a small smile.

Like usual, Zack sat there trying to assess the situation. He was much like herself, very scientific and very unsure of himself in public places. That was one of the things she liked about him, he WAS so much like her. He just said "Hello, Dr. Brennan." and went back to staring at his food.

The interns were a different story. All of them had had their run-ins with the elusive Dr. Brennan in the past, and none of them had been good. The Jeffersonian had started out with a group of seven interns, but between Brennan yelling at them for being incompetent or Booth yelling at them for being wrong they were down to three interns. They stared at her, waiting for her to tell them they needed to go back to work.

"Hodgins...Cam...Zack...I am going to eat with you today, if that is okay with everyone. I don't want to interrupt if this is a private thing." Secretly she hoped that they would allow her to join in with them today. She had been watching them eat lunch for a while, and she always felt left out when they didn't invite her to join them. In the past, normally she would have joined them without being asked...but not now. She didn't want to ruin a good thing for them.

"Interns...I don't know your names, but is it okay?" They nodded their heads in unison, very surprised that she was talking to them.

Clapping her hands, Cam said brightly "Hodge-podge, Zackaroni, Angela...let's get to eating. Dr. Brennan, why don't you sit here?" She gestured to an empty spot between Zack and Angela.

She didn't know the last time that she had eaten lunch with someone other than herself. She had forgotten how pleasant it could be eating with a group of friends. Sorry she had been gone from them so long, she decided that she was going to participate in this lunch. She also wanted to make the interns feel more welcome than she had in the past. She knew that Cam was getting tired of interns coming to her to tell her that they were leaving, because she was too demanding or too mean or yelled too much.

Looking over at Angela, she smiled. "So...how do you like working here so far?" She said to an intern, she didn't know his name though.

"I like it. I am Dr. Alex Betancourt It is a very great learning environment, Dr. Brennan. I am happy to be learning from you and Dr. Addy." She smiled at his response.

Before she could say something, Hodgins added, "Don't worry Alex, she won't remember your name...no matter how many times you tell it to her." Looking over at Brennan, he smiled and added, "It took her a year to remember my name. What was it you called me for the longest time Dr. B.?"

"Dr. Hodgkins...if memory serves." She smiled at that memory.

Everyone relaxed when they heard her response, knowing that she wasn't going to get angry with him. The interns, especially, saw how she interacted with her friends and saw that she genuinely cared about them. Obviously something had happened between her and Special Agent Booth and that is what had wrecked her mood in the past. Glancing at each other, they shared a knowing grin. They had ridden out her bad attitude, so now, hopefully they would be staying there at the Jeffersonian for a while.

They sat there, even after everyone had finished their lunches, talking and laughing about some of their funnier experiences in the lab. Zack and Hodgins talked about racing beetles, and scaring Cam when they raced into her office. Angela talked about finding Hodgins and Brennan dropping a monkey off of the Jeffersonian roof, trying to figure out how someone died. That was especially funny, except when security came over because they thought that someone had committed suicide.

It was fun to sit there, and talk and not have to worry about anything else. Until those doors slid open, and they were pushed back into reality.

----------

"Dr. Brennan...." Booth called as he walked towards the table, "We have a case." He stopped when he saw everyone sitting there. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt anything."

Turning around to walk away, he felt something inside him break. He had seen her smiling and laughing before he walked through the doors. He had stood there for a couple minutes, just watching her, hoping that she wouldn't see him. He had also seen the laughter fade from her face the moment he said her name.

Resentment. That was the expression that he received. While everyone else had her happiness he got that. Not being able to handle that anymore, he decided when he got back to his office he was going to ask Cullen to have another agent take his place. He knew that it would be a hard job finding someone to replace him, but he couldn't be around her anymore. He just couldn't.

He walked through the front doors of the Jeffersonian when he heard someone calling his name.

"Agent Booth!" Why was she still calling him that, he wondered? Oh yeah, they weren't friends anymore. Every time he remembered that it tore through him like a bullet.

He turned and saw Brennan running down the foyer towards him. He saw the questioning look in her eyes but declined to give any information to her. He didn't want to tell her that seeing her smile was breaking his heart. A smile that he hadn't seen in a long time....and the only way he got to see it today was by spying on her with her friends.

He couldn't be here...not with her. He needed to get away from her, but knew he couldn't. Looking at her with cold, unfeeling eyes he said, "Dr. Brennan, like I said, we have a case. A body was found and you need to determine if it was suicide or murder."

Getting into the waiting vehicle he noticed that she was starting to look like her old self again. She was starting to gain back some of that weight that she had lost, and she wasn't looking as pale as she had been. He didn't have to guess as to why she was looking so good, because he knew in his heart that she had found someone else. He knew that whomever she had found was behind her looking so good.

Wondering if she had someone in her life and seeing the life back in her body because of him, punched Booth in the gut. He was seriously going to need a new partner after this case. He couldn't be around her every day, knowing that she was going home to someone every night. Someone who wasn't him. He couldn't let go of the fact that there would never be anything between them. They didn't have anything when they started working together, but he had always prayed that somehow they would end up together.

As he drove to the scene he kept his eyes on the road. He didn't want to look at her. He didn't want to see her shining eyes again...those were the eyes that haunted him in his dreams. Damn it...he saw them every time he tried to sleep, he didn't need to see them while he was at work.

He drove...just drove.

He tried to let her know that they were there, but she just kept ignoring him so he left her alone. Then, when he heard the door open he glanced over at her before quickly looking away. He didn't want her to know that he had been watching her; he had been waiting to see if she was okay.

He heard her moving up behind him, quicker than normal. When he looked down at her as she passed, he could see that her face was white and her eyes were darting around. He saw her glance over her shoulder, like she was nervous, once before getting to work. He looked over in the direction of his SUV but didn't see anyone.

----------

Booth had run from her. She kept thinking that over and over as she tried to catch him in the elevator...but it closed before she could get to it. She couldn't see him, but she imagined his face. All she saw was sadness...the look that washed over his face when she stopped laughing, when she realized that he was there in the lab.

When she caught him at the entrance to the Jeffersonian she had to yell his name two or three times before he turned around to acknowledge her. When he did, the look on his face shocked her. She had never seen that look on his face before. Not when they had talked about his dad, or when they questioned Howard Epps, or even when they were questioning that gang leader long ago. What had she done to make him mad? She had never seen Booth so angry at her before.

When he wouldn't look at her during the ride, she started trying to process what had happened earlier. Tried to figure out what had made him turn and run from her. She wanted to know why her partner looked like he didn't want anything to do with her. Why he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but sitting next to her driving his SUV.

She knew she loved him...loved him more than anything. But maybe it had taken her too long to realize that fact. She had never listened to Angela or Sweets when they told her that there was something there between her and Booth. Never wanted to acknowledge the fact that their partnership had changed her life. She didn't want to listen to Angela when she picked on her about Booth.

She needed to tell him, everything. She needed to tell him how she felt about him, but she couldn't. her own mind was over-analyzing everything. She knew how she felt, but she couldn't and wouldn't risk his rejection.

She needed to tell him about the baby, but she couldn't. She didn't want him to feel 'responsible' for her or for the baby. She didn't want him to think that she needed him, when she really did. She didn't want him to pressure her to do something just because he wanted it.

She stared out the window; it felt like forever, until she realized that the vehicle had stopped moving. Looking around, she saw that they had arrived at the scene. She became furious when she realized that he had left her in the SUV. Why didn't he tell her that they were there? Did he think that his job was more important than her job? Obviously he just didn't care anymore, she decided.

She climbed out of the front seat with a feeling like she was being watched. Thinking it was him behind her, she turned around to let him have it...but saw nothing there. She looked over and saw Booth standing near the body. She grabbed her bag from the backseat before looking over her shoulder one more time.

She knew she was being watched, she could feel it. It was like Booth had told her once, it was a premonition. Looking again she saw nothing, but quickly made her way over to the crime scene and the safety of being near Booth.

Even if he didn't like her anymore or want to be around her anymore, she knew that he would protect her. She believed in him and knew that he would kill for her.

-------------

He saw them arrive at the crime scene and wondered what was going on between the two of them. Agent Booth got out of his vehicle but there was no sign of Dr. Brennan. Where was she? He stood there and stared for a couple minutes before his question was answered.

He saw the passenger door get thrown open and out came an angry woman. He could see her looking around for someone, and figured it was Booth. Sure enough, when her eyes moved to the crime scene and she saw him standing there, he almost saw the flames dancing in her eyes.

Not paying attention to what he was doing, he moved in the shadows but stopped quickly. Dr. Brennan had turned around and was staring right where he was standing. He didn't move…didn't breath, because he knew if she saw him his plans would be ruined.

He saw her reach into the SUV and grab her bag of gadgets. She was about to head over to the body, but not before looking in his direction once more. Something must have spooked her because before he knew, she was gone.

Over by Booth…her big protector. He was waiting to see how he could protect her when he didn't know where she was.

Only a couple more weeks and she will be mine, he thought contently.

**A/N: LET ME KNOW IF YALL ARE LIKING THIS STORY…SO I CAN CONTINUE IT. JUST BEGGING FOR SOME COMMENTS!!!!!!!!!**


	14. Chapter 14

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY…SHAPE…OR FORM OWN BONES OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS LISTED IN THIS STORY….SO SAD!!!!!**

**Thank you to wazo29 for all your help and insight into this story…thanks!!!**

Booth was sitting at his desk, flipping through a case file when a shadow fell over his desk. Looking up at the disturbance, he wondered who would enter his office without knocking or at least announcing their presence.

"Well, well big brother…I see that you are actually working."

Booth grinned saying "At least I'm working," before jumping up and coming around his desk to hug Jared. "What the hell are you doing here, Jared? I thought that you were in Liechtenstein or some place like that."

"How did you know that Seely? That information is classified…so tell me how you got it." Booth looked at one of the visitors seats, inviting him to sit down.

He sat back down, taking in the sight of his younger brother. Thin and pale, that was how he looked. _What had he gone through over there_, he thought to himself. Something must have happened, because his eyes kept darting around like he was expecting something or someone to appear.

"FBI, Jared. I am FBI. How do you think I got the information? I called in a favor" he could see Jared getting frustrated "because I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. I wasn't going to interfere, but I wanted to make sure that I knew where you were in case something happened." He could see that made Jared upset, so he continued "I did not think that you were going to do anything wrong, but I wanted to be prepared in case someone else messed up."

He relaxed a bit, seeming to accept the answer that was given to him. He still did not look completely at ease, kept shifting in his seat and glancing behind him. Booth could see him fiddling with his hands in front of him too.

"I wanted to stop by and see you before I go to Washington on assignment." Booth raised his brow, wondering if he was in any shape to be shipping out again this soon.

"When do you go?"

"Next weekend. Getting sent to Seattle to train some of their people. Hopefully it won't be rainy for the next few weeks."

They talked about his mission in Liechtenstein, without going into details, for the next few minutes. Booth gathered that something had happened to Jared when he was over there. He didn't divulge that information, and Booth didn't want to ask. Maybe he would make a call and see what he could find out.

"By the way, how is Dr. Brennan doing these days? I haven't heard you mention her recently." Booth visibly tensed when Jared asked about Bones.

"I am guessing that she is fine." Jared frowned at that answer. "I haven't seen her recently because she is at the lab trying to figure out how some guy died. The squints have not been able to determine a cause of death."

"How can they not know what happened? Isn't that their job? Is Tempe slipping or something?"

What the hell? Where did Jared get this attitude from? Wasn't it his job to be upset when the squints could not do their job correctly? His frustration level rose higher when he realized what Jared called Bones. It had been a long time since he heard her called that, but then remembered that at one time Jared had had a thing for her.

"I don't know, Jared. They can't figure out what killed him and we can't figure out what he was doing out in the wooded area he was found in. He shouldn't have been out there, much less in the city."

"What does that mean Seely?" Booth was kind of getting bothered by this line of questioning being done by his brother.

Since when did Jared care about a case that he was involved in? Most of the time when he was in town all they talked about was hockey, but never a case. He didn't even bounce ideas or anything like that off of him.

"What it means, Jared" looking out the window before finishing "it means that he was from New York, and we cannot figure out what he was doing in D.C. His wife told us that he was born, raised and lived in the same town for his entire life. He doesn't have friend, family or any colleagues that live here."

Booth could see cars driving on the street below, and he sat wondering where they were going and wishing that he could drive away with them. Knowing how he felt about Bones, and knowing that she didn't feel the same about him ate at him every day. He couldn't stay in the city…wouldn't stay.

He had already spoken to Cullen about reassigning him, but that proved to be fruitless. He was told in no uncertain terms that unless he was transferred to another field office, he was going to be working with Dr. Brennan in the future.

That is what was going to have to happen. He was going to leave this city that he had grown to love. He was going to ask for a transfer to…well, anywhere. As long as it was far enough away to where he did not have to be partners with her anymore.

He could not take her silence anymore. If something needed to be told to him about a case, it was always Cam who called him now. Even if he was in the lab, Bones wouldn't talk to him…much less glance his way.

He thought that he would be able to handle it all, the silence and no more late night take out, but he couldn't come to grips with the fact that she wouldn't even look at him. She acted like he wasn't even there…wouldn't answer any questions about the case, even if they were directed at her.

She had defeated him. She had broken him. So now, with what little dignity he had left, he was going to leave everything and everyone he loved behind.

"Seely…Seely. Earth to Seely." Shaking his head he remembered that Jared was with him in his office. "Where the hell did you go Seely? I have been sitting here trying to get your attention for the past five minutes."

"I'm here, but I have a lot to do on this case. Do you want to get together at the diner for dinner tonight?"

"That's fine. Are you okay though?" Booth nodded his head, as Jared stood up to leave.

After telling him good-bye, he started up his computer to write a 'Request for Transfer' letter.

--------------

"She has been staring at those remains for an awful long time, Angela." Cam stated as she swiped her card to enter the platform.

"Yeah, Cam, she has. She is just disappointed that she hasn't been able to find cause of death yet."

They stood there watching as Dr. Brennan carefully looked over each and every bone, trying to find something that she might have missed. Eventually they both left the platform, taking seats near Hodgins' station. They sat watching her for another hour, waiting for her to find something she missed.

"Is she still looking for cause of death?" Hodgins asked as he walked up to Cam and Angela.

"Yes she is. Have you been able to come up with anything at all? Please tell me you have." Cam added.

Shaking his head while he answered, "Nope. There is nothing on that body that shouldn't be there. I have not been able to find anything at all. I am totally lost."

"Weird. Like, totally freaky right?" Angela asked to nobody in particular. "How is it that there is no cause of death? And there is nothing on the body? Are we even sure that it is a homicide?"

Cam answered her first. "It is a homicide, and we know this because there is no logical reason as to why this 65 year old man should be dead. He had no health problems at all, he was in perfect health."

"But there is nothing there. Not one thing, Cam!" Hodgins said, exasperated. "How are we supposed to figure out what happened?"

When no one answered his question they fell into silence again. Each trying to figure out how this man was killed. If they couldn't find out what happened, did that mean that the Jeffersonian was starting to slip?

Angela was the first to get up and go to her office, unable to stand the silence any longer. When she shut her door they knew that she was going to blast her music on her Ipod, in an attempt to get this case off her mind.

Hodgins turned back to his computer, thinking that maybe he should run the tests again. Maybe he missed something the first time around. Maybe some small piece of evidence would turn up this time.

Cam sat there. She sat there watching Dr. Brennan as she tried her hardest to figure out what happened. The way she held each bone was fascinating and a little creepy at the same time. She would just stare at it, like she was willing it to tell her how the person died.

--------------

What was going on with her? How could she not figure out how this victim died? Was she missing something here? Was all the crap that was going on with Booth starting to affect her skills as an anthropologist?

These questions were shooting through her mind as she examined the bones again. This had to be the sixth or seventh time that she had looked over this set of remains, but she had still been unable to determine cause of death. Something had killed this man, and she was unable to figure out what it was.

She went back to thinking about her and Booth, what was going on between them. Usually she heard from him at least once a day, if not more than that. Not hearing from him was starting to wear on her. She missed having those unnecessary chats with him.

Since he wouldn't talk to her or even look at her, how was she supposed to tell him that she was over four months pregnant with his child? What was she supposed to do, send him a telegram or something like that?

She wanted to tell someone, anyone. But she couldn't, because she knew the moment she did it would get back to Booth. She needed to talk to anyone…maybe she could go talk to Sweets. If she did he wouldn't be able to tell anyone…hmmmm, that was a thought.

Placing the fibula that she was holding back down on the table, she sighed. This was getting old, not being able to solve this case. Pretty soon Cullen would be breathing down her neck, trying to get her to make a ruling on the cause of death.

"Dr. Brennan, have you found anything yet?" She shook her head even as Cam asked the question.

"No…nothing at all. Has anyone found anything…at all?"

All she heard from around the lab was resounding "No's…sorry Dr. Brennan."

She couldn't take it anymore…she had to get out of here. She needed to just go. Almost running into her office she whipped off her lab coat and grabbed her jacket. She didn't want to, but she knew who she had to go see. She had to go talk to him.

As she walked to the doorway, she yelled over her shoulder that she would be back in about an hour or two. She just had some things that she needed to take care of.

--------------

He was sitting there, going over notes, when she walked into his office and closed his door. Never before had she come willingly, on her own. In the past, he would have to pressure her talk to him, and even then she took shots at his profession.

"Dr. Sweets, I need to talk to you. It is not because you are a 'psychologist' but because I know that you cannot talk about what I am going to tell you."

He looked at her, and knew that something was bothering her. Normally, if she had a problem she always talked to Agent Booth or Angela. What was making her come to him, he wondered.

"Have a seat Dr. Brennan." Watching her as she sat down, he saw how nervous she was.

"I'm pregnant with Booth's baby…" watching his eyes shoot open, she continued "but he doesn't know it. I don't know what to do. I can't talk to Angela, because he might overhear her talking about it. What am I going to do?"

He watched as the normally stoic Dr. Brennan basically fell apart in her chair. She had never been this forthcoming in any session they had had in the past. He also knew, with his training, that with her actually talking it was best if he just sat back and listened.

"He hasn't talked to me, in like a month. He can't even look at me when he comes to the lab. When we go to crime scenes, he ignores me the entire drive. When am I supposed to tell him that he is going to be a father again? How am I supposed to tell him?"

When she looked at him, he knew that she wanted some help. She wanted some advice from him, which was a first.

"You know for sure the baby is his" she nodded her head, so he continued. "Have you tried talking to him?"

"I have tried, but nothing is working. It was bad about five months ago, but now it is worse. In the past four months, I think he has spoken all of five sentences to me."

"Would you like me to speak to Agent Booth for you Dr. Brennan?"

He saw the look of panic cross her face after he asked her, and he knew her answer before she shook her head. Knowing her as he did, he knew that he would not be able to press her to do something that she didn't want to do.

"Okay, I have another question for you. How far along are you? You said that he hasn't spoken to you in about four months, so how pregnant are you, exactly?"

Closing her eyes before answering him, she said "Over four months."

She heard him take a deep breath and sigh. She was waiting for the onslaught of words that were going to come flowing out of his mouth. She was waiting for him to beat her down verbally, for not telling Booth that she was pregnant. But she could wait forever, because nothing like that came out.

"Have you been taking care of yourself, Dr. Brennan? I am worried about your stress level right now." He saw her raise her eyebrows. "You don't look like you have been eating properly or sleeping enough. Have you?"

"No, I haven't been able to do anything right. I haven't eaten. I can't sleep. I can't even solve this damn case that we have been working on for two weeks. I can't figure out how this mad died. I need to figure this one out."

He saw the exhaustion rolling off of her. Speaking to him was taxing her so much. He had to stop this before it went on any further.

"Why don't you go home…" she started to protest that suggestion, but he continued "go home and get some rest. Working yourself to the max is not going to be good for you or for the baby." He saw her eyes fill with tears when he spoke about the baby. "Also, you need to get something to eat. You cannot keep not eating, because it is not good for you and certainly not good for the baby."

"I can't go home Sweets…" he heard how she called him, and realized that she was going to cry, "I have to help the poor victim. I have to find out how he died." Trying to hold back tears as she spoke, "I want to sleep, and I want to eat, but I can't."

Grabbing the box of tissues off his desk, he moved over into the seat next to her. Watching as she took a few, he waited until her tears subsided before asking her another question.

"Why can't you? You obviously need to sleep." She glared at him, but he kept on talking. "You are exhausted, Dr. Brennan. Why else would you be crying in my office? You have never cried before." Opening her mouth to speak, he silenced her with a look. "You have shed a _few_ tears before, like when we spoke about your parents and your teenage years. You have never cried quite like this before, and I am a little worried that you might not be eating like you should."

She looked defeated. That was how he would have described her. Plain defeated. He could see that her clothes were, in fact, hanging looser on her body. Her hair wasn't as healthy as it has been in the past. She just looked broken.

When she had composed herself, he offered to drive her home. He knew that if he didn't make sure that she went there, that she would probably go straight back to the lab. She didn't need that victim staring at her, taunting her inability to find cause of death.

He took Dr. Brennan to her apartment, and made sure that she went inside. He couldn't help but think that she was going to crack from all the demands that were being made of her. He knew that she had the ability to compartmentalize many things, but soon all the little things were going to start to overwhelm her.

As he drove off, he failed to notice a black car parked across the street, directly under Dr. Brennan's apartment.

**A/N: what are we thinking so far?? Does it look like it is going to be getting good? Please comment on this story, because I want to know if I am doing a halfway decent job on it.**

**I am going to try to get another chapter written up in the next day or two…so bear with me.**


	15. Chapter 15

**So…I put up a time line for every one, because I think some people were starting to get confused with the story and when things were…so I just thought that I would put it up. It only tells the 'date' of each chapter…understand everyone?**

**Thank you to every one that is commenting on this story. Last chapter was written to show what Brennan was starting to go through emotionally without having Booth in her life.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bones, any characters or places….so sad. **

**Three months later**

She was losing her touch. She still hadn't been able to determine cause of death for the man that was found in the wooded area. She had never been not able to find the cause of death for anyone before.

Looking at 500 year old remains, she could see that the person had been buried alive. She could tell you where they came from, what their diet consisted of, and if their death was tied to any religion.

But, not now.

She knew that Cam and Angela were talking about her inability to do her job correctly. They wouldn't say it to her face, but she knew that they were thinking less and less of her. Cam hadn't been able to find anything during the autopsy, but she was Dr. Temperance Brennan. She could find cause of death, even when no one else could.

She couldn't do this. She couldn't have a baby. She couldn't be a mother. If she could not figure out how is man died, how was she to know what an infant wanted or needed. She couldn't do it, she couldn't end it's life…now what was she supposed to do?

Standing in front of the raised examination table, she was going over the set of remains, yet again. She wanted to see if she missed anything at all, but she knew that this search would yield nothing.

Feeling like she was being watched, she looked over her shoulder and saw Angela sitting a couple feet behind her. She was acting like she was drawing a picture of the victim, but she knew better. Cam had sent Angela over here to babysit her.

"Angela, what are you doing?"

Looking up after being addressed, she raised her sketchbook to show Brennan that she was trying to figure out how this guy might have died. This case was starting to wear on everyone.

"Just drawing, sweetie. I am trying to figure out how he might have died, since Cam and Jack haven't been able to come up with anything."

She turned back to the remains, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill over. it had just been confirmed…she couldn't do her job. They hadn't been able to find cause of death, so everything rested with her, and she couldn't find anything either.

It was her fault that his wife hadn't been able to bury him yet. It was her fault that his children couldn't greive and move on. They had been getting calls three times a week since they had found him, from his family. They wanted to know when they could have his body, remains, so that they could bury them.

She was failing them too. She had failed herself, when she didn't tell Booth that she was pregnant. She had failed her mind when she decided that she needed to talk to Sweets instead of trying to talk to Angela. Now she was failing the family of this victim.

Everything started pressing in on her. She could see the walls starting to move. The overhead lights were dancing around her. She had to get out of here, far away from this victim and her colleagues.

"Ange," her friend glancing up at the name that hadn't been used in a while, "tell Cam that I wasn't feeling well. I need to go home."

She didn't give Angela time to answer before she ran off the platform and into her office. Grabbing her purse, jacket and some cases to look over at home, she ran out of the Lab and to her car.

When she made it home she ran up the stairs to her apartment. Pushing the door aside, she dropped her stuff on the couch and ran into her bedroom. When she hit the bed, she heard her front door close.

Reaching over to pull her blanket over her body, she clung to herself. She laid there and cried more tears than she thought she had.

She just laid there.

------------------

It had been two weeks since Jared had left to go to Seattle, and he had heard from him no less than two times a day. He was calling to check in, calling to tell him about the weather, and to ask about how their case was going.

_No progress._ That was what Booth had to tell him.

How could they not find any cause of death? If the guy didn't die of natural causes, wasn't his death caused by something or someone else? How could the squints not find anything?

Eating lunch in the diner, he kept thinking about the case, and how it seemed to test everyone involved with it. Cam and Hodgins were as frustrated as he was, and it was starting to show in their conversations. Zack was having problems too, having to come to terms with his own limitations as her assistant.

He gathered that the interns were flustered too. They worked so hard to show their worth, and even they could not help with anything. Knowing less than Zack or Brennan, all they could do was examine the bones, hoping to find something that was missed.

An opening door brought him back to reality. When he looked up, he saw a familiar face and winced, knowing that something had brought him here. How long had it been since he had seen Sweets?

"Agent Booth, a word please." Waving his hand, he invited Dr. Sweets to join him at his booth.

"Sweets, what can I do for you?"

"When was the last time that you spoke with Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth?" He saw the agents eyes widen. "I received a disturbing phone call from Angela today, informing me that something was wrong with her." Booth was about to interrupt "And, last week I received a phone call from Cam, telling me that Dr. Brennan looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown. Now, last time I spoke to her we talked about her eating and sleeping habits, but I do not think those have improved."

Shock. That was all he felt. He knew how Bones felt about having to talk to Sweets. He knew her disdain for his profession. Knew the only way that she saw him was because the FBI was making them go to him. What had made her want to talk to him, willingly, he wondered.

"Let's see, I spoke to Dr. Brennan about three days ago" he said hoping that Sweets wouldn't catch in the lie.

"Not true, Agent Booth. When I talked to her two weeks ago, she informed me that she hadn't spoken to you in four months." He raised his hand to say something, but Sweets held up his hand. "Five sentences in four or five months does not mean that you talked to someone. I know that the relationship between the two of you had been strained for the past five months, but not talking seems a bit extreme to me."

"Why did she come talk to you, Sweets? Why wouldn't she try to talk to Angela, or talk to me? Something must be wrong."

"She feels like she can't trust you, I think. You know about her past. You know how she felt abandoned by her parents and then by her brother. In not talking to her for this long, she is feeling like you have left her too."

Then something clicked, "What did you talk to her about? What did she say to you, Sweets?"

"You know I am not going to tell you that, so why bother to ask me Agent Booth?"

With that, Dr. Sweets stood up to leave but stopped himself. "Talk to her, before she loses herself."

He watched as Sweets left the diner, aggravated with himself. He knew that something more was wrong with her. He should have realized it sooner though. Should have known when she stopped looking his way when he came into the lab.

_Well, _he thought to himself, _I can't do anything about it right now. I'll go by her office in the morning, and I will make her talk to me!_

He hoped that she would stay there when he arrived. Cam had called him too, to tell him that Dr. Brennan had been leaving earlier and earlier every day. Something big was getting to her, and it wasn't just this case.

--------------

_They still hadn't been able to figure it out,_ he thought happily to himself. He didn't think that it would be easy to fool them. They were the Jeffersonian, after all. They found what other people couldn't.

Fluphenazine. Prolixin. Perfect.

They would never find it. They couldn't find it. They didn't know what they were looking for.

He should have done this sooner. He had wanted her for more years than he had known. He never knew how to get her, didn't know what it would take to achieve her love. He didn't even have to do anything, Booth had helped him more than he knew.

No one knew that he was capable of killing someone for his gain. They didn't think it was in him, even though he had been a trained killer. How would they know what he was capable of, if they never paid attention to him?

_Dr. Hodgins could find something, even in the smallest piece or dirt. Nothing passed his eyes, especially when it came to microscopic evidence. There were no bugs to help him out either._

_Dr. Saroyan was at a loss too. When she preformed her autopsy she found nothing out of the ordinary. Except for the fact that a perfectly healthy 65 year old man was found dead, and they could find nothing. There was nothing in any of his organs, at least nothing she could find. _

_Dr. Addy was getting aggravated because his intelligence had never failed him in the past. He was so much like Dr. Brennan, never satisfied until he could answer all the questions. So socially awkward, he couldn't handle the questions that people asked of him when it came to this case._

He had been sitting there so lost in his musings that he had failed to notice her drive past him and turn into the parking area. He caught a glimpse of her as she jumped out of her car and rushed upstairs.

_She was distraught…this is the perfect time. Tonight…then she won't have to worry about the case, her friends, and Special Agent Booth._

He slouched down further in his seat, waiting for darkness to fall.

**A/N: What are yall thinking so far?? Is it looking good? Maybe or maybe not? Let me know what yall are thinking…really like all the comments.**

**I hope I am using the correct poison. I tried to find one that could not be traced…one that can't be found at all. I think I go this right too.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I am happy that people are commenting on this story. Hopefully it won't be too long of a story. I am trying to make it interesting, so that is why I am trying to weave this story, the dead man, into Brennan's story. Get it?! Ha-ha**

**I am trying to keep this story understandable…if you can't understand the timing of it, let me know.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BONES OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS THAT ARE LISTED IN THIS STORY…THEY BELONG TO FOX…so sad**

Brennan had been laying in bed since she left the lab, and she saw no reason to get up when she heard her phone ringing. Finally it stopped, and then she heard her cell phone ringing. She ignored it too. She didn't want to talk to anyone.

She just wanted to lay here for the next four months and not think about anything. She didn't want to think about the fact that she was pregnant. Couldn't think about the fact that she had lost her best friend. If she hadn't already lost him, she surly would when she told him about the baby.

Walking in the grocery store the other day, she caught a glimpse of a newspaper front page and it stopped her in her tracks. It was questioning if the government should keep funding the Jeffersonian. The reported brought up the fact that they couldn't even find a simple cause of death for one person.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear her front door open and shut. Didn't hear the footsteps creeping down the hall towards her bedroom. So absorbed, was she, that she didn't hear him enter her room, until it was too late.

She looked up when he was standing over her, with a syringe in his hand. A look of bewilderment crossed her face when she recognized him.

Before she could react, he lunged for her and stuck her with the needle, pushing all of the liquid into her thigh. She tried to speak, tried to get away but she couldn't. She tried to fight him off, knocking Jasper the pig under her bed.

Then everything disappeared.

---------------

She was his, and he couldn't believe it. After all his hard work and planning, he actually got her.

He wouldn't let her leave; couldn't let her leave.

Now all he had to do was get her home. Get her back to their house, and then everything would be fine.

-----------------

When his phone rang that night he wondered, for a second, if it might be Bones calling to talk to him. _Jared._ When he saw the caller id, he rolled his eyes debating on whether or not to answer it.

"Hey little brother, how are you liking Seattle?" He asked when he answered his phone.

"Hey Seely, Seattle is good. A little too wet for my tastes though."

He laughed, knowing that Jared hated the rain and the snow. He was more partial to summer, and whenever possible that is where he requested to be shipped out to.

"Well, just wait a few more weeks, Jared. Winter is coming to Seattle. Ha-Ha…I hope you have fun with all the snow."

He could hear Jared groaning over the phone, before saying "Don't say it Seely. Don't even joke about this Seel."

"Well, what's up with you?"

"Not much. I just wanted to call and see how yall were doing with that case. Has anything happened with it since I last talked to you?"

Shaking his head while he answered "Nope. Not one damn thing. They still haven't been able to find any thing out, at all."

"Well, that just sucks. Anyways, how have you been? Dating anyone new?"

After talking about nothing for another fifteen minutes they said their goodbyes. Booth sat there afterwards laughing to himself, because he did know how much Jared hated winter. He remembered as a kid how he would stay inside when it would rain and snow.

He laid back down in his bed, but not quite ready to go to sleep. He thought about Bones and hoped that she was doing well these days. Hopefully she would talk to him when he went over to her apartment in the morning.

He wanted her to tell her that he loved her. Wanted to tell her that he was never going to leave her again. He was never going to do anything to hurt her again; never going to say words to intentionally hurt her again.

Finally after tossing and turning for another two hours he fell asleep, dreaming about Bones.

The next morning when he woke up, Booth knew that this was the day that things were going to change between him and Bones. Things were going to get better or they would be torn apart forever.

He stretched as he got out of the bed to get ready for his day. After taking a shower he was standing back in front of his dresser, trying to figure out what tie to wear. He ended up choosing a black tie with dancing coconuts on it. He smiled, remembering when Bones had given it to him.

After eating breakfast, he went down and hopped into his SUV so he could go to Bones' house. While he was driving there, he grabbed his phone to call Angela. He wanted to make sure that she was going to be at her apartment.

"Hey Booth. Haven't heard from you in a long time. What's up?" He smiled, knowing that even though she was best friends with Bones she would still treat him like a friend.

"Hey Angela, I just wanted to make sure that Bones was at home."

"Why do you want to know, Booth?" He heard the annoyance in her voice.

Taking a breath before answering, he said "I am going to talk to her, whether or not she wants me to."

"Booth…"

"No Angela. I am going over there, and if I have to I will break down her door to get her to listen to me. I am going to stand there until she will talk to me. I am not going to leave her. Not this time. I don't care."

"Well, I hope you can get through to her because I know for damn sure that I can't. I have tried talking to her to no avail."

"Yeah, I know. She can be stubborn when she wants to be; but not today. She is not going to turn me away today. I will call you when I leave, okay?"

"Alright. Give her a kiss for me, sweetie."

After hanging up with her, he realized that he was parked at Bones' apartment building. Getting out of his SUV he saw her sports car parked there, so he knew that she was up there. Unless, she had taken another walk.

Reaching her door he started knocking on it. _Damn it, Bones. Answer your door._ He thought to himself. When she didn't answer it, he started banging on it willing her to come and open the door.

He was starting to get worried when she hadn't answered the door after about ten minutes. Normally it would have bugged the hell out of her, and she would have flung the door open by now and told him off.

Sensing that something was wrong, he pulled his sidearm out of its holster and kicked the door open. As he walked into her living room he could see when she had come in and dropped her stuff when she came home yesterday.

Walking towards her bedroom, he hollered out "Bones! Where are you? FBI. Any body here?"

When he reached her bedroom door he pushed it open with his toe, expecting to see her sleeping or walking out of her bathroom yelling at him.

He saw nothing out of place. Nothing to tell him that anything was wrong. Then he saw something missing off of her bedside table. Looking around he didn't find it. When he looked under her bed, he found it.

Jasper.

**A/N: What are we thinking about this story? Still going good? Hoping so.**


	17. Chapter 17

**I am soooo happy for all of the comments that I have received regarding this story. I am also very sorry for taking so long to get this chapter up. **

**Wazo29…your insight to this story has been very helpful…thanks!!!!!**

**Missing 1 day**

Still in shock after going to Bones' apartment and not finding her, he wasn't seeing the scene around him. He didn't see the agents meticulously combing through her bedroom to see what evidence they could find. He didn't see Cullen directing them not to miss anything. He was lost in his mind, until screaming brought him back.

"Ma'am, you cannot go in there! It is a crime scene! Ma'am…" he heard an agent telling someone, wondering who he could be talking to.

"Please, you have to let me in there. Please, Booth!! Booth, are you in there?" He was on his feet sprinting to the door as he heard Angela calling out to him.

"Angela, hold on…it's okay Agent Dunn. Let me come to you, Angela." She nodded, stepping back into the hall far enough for him to join her and Jack out there.

"Where is she? Where is…" was all she could get out before breaking into tears again, and falling against Booth.

Standing there, holding Angela in his arms, he felt his resolve slipping. The tears that he had been holding back slowly started filling his eyes, and falling down his face. He couldn't break down like this; he would be of no use to anyone, especially Bones.

Shakily he said "I don't know. I came over this morning, like I told you I would, and she wasn't here."

"Did you see anything out of place, Booth?" piped up Hodgins from behind Angela.

"That's how I knew something was wrong. The pig I gave her, Jasper, was underneath her bed."

They both looked at each other before turning to him. He knew they were wondering how he knew where she kept that pig. They both realized at the same time that he had to have been in her apartment at one time or another.

"_Under_ her bed? Why was it under her bed?" Angela mused.

"It got knocked down there, some how...we don't know. All we know is that it was under her bed, where it was not supposed to be."

He was slowly starting to slip again, into a place where he didn't want to be. He didn't want to be the one to lose it...he wanted to be to one to hold the group together. He needed to be the one cool head of the bunch...but that was slipping away from him.

---------------

"Booth," she said, "Booth, you need to listen to me."

She knelt down in front of where he was sitting, with his head in his hands, and tried to get him to look at her.

"Booth...it's Angela. Come on now, we need you to be strong. We need you to help us through this."

She knew what he was going through. She knew that he was beating himself up inside. He probably thought that if they hadn't of been fighting then he would have been here last night. Maybe if he had been here, he might have been able to stop it from ever happening.

"Angela. It's my fault she's gone. If I would have just talked to her before now, she would still be here." He looked up at her with tears in his eyes. She had never seen him like this before.

Booth was always alpha-male. Always so in control of his emotions.

But she knew that the only things that mattered to him in the world were Parker and Brennan. She knew that if they didn't find her, alive, that he would never recover from this.

"Booth, it is okay. We just need you here with us now."

She glared up at Hodgins with a look that said _Say something, will ya?_

"Come on, Booth. It's like Ange said, we need you with us. You know that we are going to need all the help we can get with this. She would want you here. Helping."

Booth looked up at Hodgins with a shocked look on his face. He thought that Hodgins would be the one holdout when it came to working with the squints. He knew that Hodgins had a special place in his heart for Bones.

Looking back at Booth Angela saw that he was composed again. Jumping up and clapping his hands, she knew that he was in control and ready to take action.

"Let's go people. We need everything that we can find. Hodgins get in there to see if you can find any evidence that they might have missed. And damnit, make sure they don't screw things up!"

-------------

He didn't know if his words were going to register with Booth, but immediatly saw that they did.

_"Let's go people. We need everything that we can find. Hodgins get in there to see if you can find any evidence that they might have missed. And damnit, make sure they don't screw things up!"_

He knew that things were starting to look up for them. He heard, in Booth's voice, the same resolve that he heard in Dr. B's voice when they were buried by the Gravedigger.

He knew that, one way or another they were going to find her. She would not need to lose faith in Booth again. He had found it in himself.

-----------

Slowly coming to, she tried to move around but found out quick that she couldn't.

Where was she? By the sounds that she heard, she figured that she was in a vehicle moving at a high rate of speed.

How long had she been out for? Why had he kidnapped her? What was going to happen to her?

_Booth...where are you...please...I need you._

She kept thinking that to herself, even though she knew that it would be days before anyone realized that she was missing. She had managed to piss off her friends and lost her closest friend in the process too.

He always kept talking about _love_ like it was something that everybody posessed. Like every one was ment to love someone else. She never believed him, until now.

She wanted to believe that he could feel her, in his heart; even though she knew that was impossible. She needed to keep thinking about the fact that she loved him. Had to keep thinking about him.

Every other time she had been taken, that was the thing that kept her sane. Remembering that he would always be there to rescue her from whatever may harm her.

She hoped that this would be one of those times. But having hurt him like she did, she didn't know if he would rescue her again.

She wanted to pray...because that was something that Booth would be doing in a time like this...but she didn't know how. She remembered him telling her that all she needed to do was talk, and **He** was there to listen to her. Even though she didn't believe in a 'higher power' she wanted to believe Booth.

_Here goes nothing..._she thought to herself.

_Um...whoever is up there...this is Dr. Temperance Brennan, of the Jeffersonian. You must know why I am talking to you....._

------------

Driving down interstate 79 in West Virginia, he couldn't be happier. He had gotten what he wanted, and nobody would know about it for days.

He knew that Dr. Brennan was losing her friends, just like she had already lost her partner. She didn't have anyone else who would notice her missing.

He smiled at that thought. Since she didn't have any one else, he would be her person now. He would be her best friend and partner.

She wouldn't fight him either. She couldn't fight him.

Now, they just needed to make it back home before she started causing trouble.

**A/N: What are we thinking of this so far?? Sorry for the delay in getting this next chapter up. **

**I got a little bored with it, trying to think about the rest of the story and then it just came to me today.**

**Also...i started another story to take my mind off the fact that I couldn't get this one finished.**

**BLAH!!!!!!!!!!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Still working on this story…hoping that everyone is still enjoying it, and not getting too bored with it.**

**I think that Bones is about 6 months pregnant by now…let me know if that sounds wrong.**

**As always, I do not own Bones or any characters…so sad.**

**Missing 1 week**

_Where am I? What time of day is it? Why are there no windows? I need windows…it can't turn out like before. I need to get out of here. _

She kept talking to herself, knowing that by talking she was keeping herself sane. She would not let this animal win. This animal that she counted as kind of a friend.

How could he do this to her? What had led him to kidnap her?

_Booth, where are you? I need you Booth. You have to help me…you have to help our baby. Our daughter. You need to rescue her._

That was when things changed for her. She had finally recognized the baby as hers and Booths. Before, it was always _Booth's_ baby…that was what she had planned on doing all along. She wanted him to have her.

Until that moment, she had not referred to the baby as being hers. Her heart started to weep, knowing the predicament they were in. knowing what he was capable of; she had every reason to be frightened.

She knew that she was going to have to hold out hope that Booth would come to her aid. Hold out hope that he wouldn't give up on finding her.

She looked around her prison. She wanted to know what was in her room. Needed to know if there was anything to help aid her escape, even though she knew that _he_ would not have left anything in her room.

------------

She hadn't fought him.

Why didn't she fight him?

He knew that she was well versed in self defense, so what had stopped her?

He kept asking himself this as he paced in his bedroom, watching her through the one way mirror. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. He wanted to memorize her face again. He wanted to know every line, before he went in to her.

Proud of himself, he was. Proud that he had taken her away from her 'captor.' That is what he thought _Special Agent Seely Booth _was. He was the one person that held her captive, and he didn't even know it.

He didn't see how she reacted to him; reacted to his presence. He couldn't see how she brightened up when he walked into the Jeffersonian. He didn't see her searching for his aftershave when he left her office.

He also didn't see the pain in her eyes when he talked about his ex-girlfriends. He didn't see the pain when he skipped out on their lunch dates in favor of going out with another woman.

How could he miss the signs? He was supposed to be this great FBI agent…being able to 'read' people and all that crap.

What he couldn't understand, is how everyone else saw Temperance's reactions to him but he missed them by a mile. He knew that her friend, Angela, knew how they both felt about one another. But he knew that she wouldn't say anything to them, because they had to find things out on their own.

But not now. Now she belonged to him. Soon she would start looking at him with the same loving look that she had been giving Agent Booth. The only difference was, he would not ignore the looks.

She would love him.

---------------

1 week.

7 days.

168 hours.

10,080 minutes.

604,800 seconds.

That was how long she had been missing, give or take.

That was how long Bones had been out of his life, not including the past five months when they didn't talk or see each other. He knew that she was still there; knew where to find her if he needed her.

They had not been able to find anything in her apartment, at all. Even Hodgins couldn't find anything, and that was royally pissing him off. He wanted to find Brennan just as bad, if not more, than the rest of them.

No kidnapping was ever perfect. There was always some sort of evidence left behind, but they had failed to find it yet.

He couldn't believe that his _Bones_ had been taken from him. He needed to find her. He needed to tell her everything that he had been holding in.

He needed to be able to stare into her bright eyes once more. He needed to touch her hair, to make sure that she was solid in front of him.

Knocking brought him back to reality. Looking up from her desk he saw that her father, Max, was looking down at him with pity.

"Max…we can't find her. We have lost her. I lost her." Max shook his head.

"No, Booth. We haven't lost her yet. We are going to find her. **You** are going to find her."

Not knowing how much he knew about the past five months, he didn't know what to say to Max. He wanted to believe him, wanted to believe that they would find her. But he knew the truth.

"How can you be so sure? We have nothing. No evidence." Max smiled.

"I am sure, because we have _you._ We don't need evidence. We have your faith, and we have Tempe's faith in you. That is all we are going to need." Booth started to speak, but Max held up a hand to him. "We might not find her today or tomorrow, but we will find her. And when we do it is going to be because of you."

"The past five months…"

"Do not matter, Booth. When we find her, and we will, when we find her they will be forgotten. You need to believe that."

--------

After leaving Booth to his thoughts in Tempe's office, he went over to where Angela and Hodgins were taking. He didn't know much about the two of them, but he knew that Angela was his daughter's best friend.

"Angela" he called out walking up to them "How long has he been here?"

Looking at Hodgins before answering, she sighed. "He has been here the entire time. He doesn't even go home. He has given up every other case that he has in favor of this one. I have been to his apartment to get him clothes, but he is sleeping in her office."

"He feels responsible, Angela." Jack stated.

"Why?" Max asked.

"Because they have been fighting for a while. He thinks that if he hadn't been so pig-headed she would be okay."

"What?"

Hodgins went on. "He thinks that if he had been over there with her, then she would be okay. He thinks that all of this is his fault."

Angela started crying again. He had seen her over the past couple days, and there had only been once or twice when he didn't see her crying. He knew that she was deeply distraught with Tempe's kidnapping.

He watched as Hodgins wrapped an arm around her and took her to her office, shutting the door behind them.

Taking that as his cue to leave, he walked outside and pulled out his cell phone. He needed to make a call.

"Hello." Came a curt reply when the call was answered.

"Firth."

"Max? What the hell are you doing calling me?"

"It's Joy." He knew using her 'real' name would bring around memories.

"What's wrong with Joy…Temperance?" he heard the worry in his voice.

"She's been kidnapped."

* * *

He needed to tell them. Needed to give them this information…but he knew that he couldn't. If he did, then surely he would loose his job and his license.

But…he needed to do this. Booth needed this information.

Dr. Sweets had never been one to disobey rules. He had always been a straight shooter. Never one to toe the line…but this was different.

He didn't know how to approach Agent Booth, so he called Angela, and had her bring him to his office. He gave no information, just told her to bring him here because it was important.

While he waited for them to arrive, he took out Dr. Brennan's file and looked through it. He wanted to make sure the information he was going to give was right on top. He was still holding that file when he heard a commotion in the hallway.

"Sweets!" He heard Agent Booth before he opened his door. "What the hell was so important that you couldn't tell me over the phone?"

"Angela, please wait outside while I speak with Agent Booth." And without an answer he shut the door to her.

"Sweets…"

"Agent Booth, let me speak. I know that you and Dr. Brennan find my field amusing. I know that she thinks it is all a crock of shit." Booth was nodding. "But, I stand by everything that I have learned and everything that I have said regarding the two of you."

"Sweets, the point please."

"I am bound by doctor-patient confidentiality."

He knew that if it was ever found out that he gave out this information, he would lose everything that he had worked for. But he went ahead with his plan, laying the folder that he had been going through on the table between him and Agent Booth.

"The point." He was getting restless by then.

"You know she came to see me about three weeks ago. We spoke for a while about what was going on with her."

"What was going on with her Sweets? You need to tell me."

"I can't _tell_ you. You know that I am bound by confidentiality. But" nodding to the file that he just place on the table between them "I need to go speak to Angela for a moment. Maybe see if she would like a cup of coffee."

It dawned on Booth a second later what Sweets was doing. He understood what would happen to him if it ever got out that he had broken the agreement.

"Okay…I'll be quick. Thanks Dr. Sweets."

He got up quick, not wanting to let Booth know how calling him that brought a smile to his face. He opened the door and stepped out, closing it quickly behind him.

----------------

Booth sat there for a minute, trying to figure out what he was going to do. Should he open the file and take a peek at her private thoughts? He didn't want to betray her even more than he already had.

He finally plucked up the courage and opened the file, not really knowing what he was looking for. He did note that Sweets took very precise notes…very neat notes.

Scanning the page, he wondered what he was looking for. Then he saw it, and his heart stopped. He stopped breathing. He didn't move.

He felt like he was dying. Felt like his soul was being ripped to shreds in his body. Felt like someone was trying to pull his body apart.

_Dr. Brennan came by to speak to me today about what had been transpiring between her and Agent Booth. She got right down to the point. _

_Dr. Brennan was over four months pregnant, and Agent Booth was the father of this fetus. She felt like she needed to speak to someone, and I suggested her friend, Angela. She said that she chose me, only because she knew that I could not tell anyone._

That was all he read. He couldn't read any further.

_Four months pregnant._

Those words kept playing over and over in his mind. He didn't hear Sweets enter back into his office and take a seat in front of him. He didn't notice that Sweets had taken back the file either.

"Agent Booth, can I help you with anything?"

He looked at Sweets and answered "this is what she was keeping from everyone? She felt like she couldn't talk to me or Angela?"

"She only told me because she knew that I could not speak about it with anyone. She knew that I was bound by law."

"But why did you let me see it?"

"I didn't, Agent Booth. I was out of my office, and I have no idea what you took a look at while I was gone."

Nodding in understanding, he got up to leave but Sweets spoke again. "You can not say where you got this information, or the fact that this file was left out. If so, then I lose my job."

"Understand, Dr. Sweets. Thank you!"

He left the office quickly, taking Angela into the elevator before she could ask questions. When she tried to speak, he quieted her with a glance.

"Your car." was all he said.

When they reached her car he didn't say anything until they joined the traffic. He didn't know how she was going to react…probably mush like him.

"Angela, what I am about to tell you, you cannot tell anyone outside of the group. Hodgins…yes. Cam…yes. Zack…yes. But no one else. And do not ask where I got this information, because I will not tell you."

"Booth what is going on? Does it have to do with Bren?" he nodded his head.

"Agree with my conditions, or I will be required to not tell you."

She nodded, and then said "Okay."

"She is pregnant…almost 6 months."

When he said that the car swerved to the left, narrowly missing a passing car. The honking of a horn brought her back.

"Oh…Booth. What does this mean? She's pregnant…wait…is it yours?"

All he could do was nod, because he knew that if he spoke he would break down. He couldn't lose it again. He had to be strong for her, and for their baby.

**A/N: what are we thinking so far?? Is it good or bad? Comments are very welcome!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Here is another chapter in my story. Hoping that everyone is still enjoying it. I am sorry for the delays in getting the chapters up…but like I said before, my brain decided that it wanted to make a side trip. I had to follow the trip, because I didn't want to lose that story.**

**I am thinking that she is either 6 months or a week past that.**

**AGAIN…I DO NOT OWN BONES!!! STILL VERY SAD **

**berniej – thank you for your comments!!**

**Missing 2 weeks**

It had been a shock to them all. No one even suspected that Bones was pregnant. No one questioned when she started wearing looser clothing. No one said anything when she started coming into work later in the morning.

Even with all the publicity around her kidnapping, they still had nothing. No sightings at all. How was that possible? They still hadn't been able to figure that out.

Angela was beside herself with sadness. He knew that she blamed herself for not noticing the subtle changes in Brennan's appearance. According to Hodgins, it was hardest at night when they were trying to go to sleep.

She would be getting ready, then everything would hit her again; the fact that her best friend was taken at night. From what he heard, she would collapse into bed and cry herself to sleep.

Zack wasn't fairing any better. He had come to rely on Dr. Brennan in the lab as his teacher and his closest ally. She knew and understood the things that he was going through.

He, like her, didn't understand any of the movie or television references that the others made. With her gone, he started retreating back into himself. He was becoming more scientific with his words by the day. Even Hodgins felt like he needed subtitles when working with him.

Cam, being Cam, was the cool headed one of the bunch. Not being that close to Dr. Brennan, her disappearance didn't affect her like it did the others. It still had repercussions, one being the fact that she didn't go anywhere when the sun set.

She couldn't get over the fact that someone as skilled as Dr. Brennan had been taken. She knew that if someone had been able to get the drop on the good doctor, then anyone could get her.

Hodgins…well, Hodgins wasn't doing any better than Angela. Having been with Dr. B. when they were kidnapped by the Gravedigger, he had a close bond with her. He had gone over her bedroom…her entire apartment…four different times to see if he had missed anything.

He didn't want to think that something bad had happened to her, he couldn't think that. He would keep pushing forward, trying to see if he could come up with anything. Just one shred of evidence…that is all he needed to find her.

Even Sweets was affected by her disappearance. He felt like he should have gotten her to speak with Agent Booth about what was going on. Knowing how she felt about motherhood, it briefly crossed his mind that maybe this had been planned. That thought was pushed out fairly quickly though, because he knew that she wouldn't hurt herself or Booth's baby.

He still couldn't believe it. Why didn't she come and talk to him? Was she so scared of his reaction to the news? Did she think that she was going to be able to hide it much longer?

Booth still couldn't believe what had transpired over the past two weeks. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Bones, his Bones was actually pregnant.

What he couldn't believe more than that was the fact that she had decided to talk to Sweets about it. _Sweets!!_ That was a big shock too. He knew how she felt about him…he knew that she didn't put much stock in psychology.

What made matters worse was the fact that they found nothing. She had just dropped of the radar. It was like she vanished into thin air; but given her celebrity that should have been impossible.

Booth had taken to using her office as his. He had requested that it be his office for the time being. Not wanting to disturb her desk, he had one of his own moved in.

Cullen had even sent a case over to him by messenger. He obviously understood that Booth was not going to be coming back to 'his' office until Dr. Brennan was found. He didn't push him to take more than one case either, knowing that his main focus was on her case.

Booth just sat there, staring over at her desk, lost in his own thoughts. He couldn't think about anything else. He wanted to know why she didn't talk to him…why she didn't talk to Angela.

He needed to see her again. He would do anything to see her again, give up everything he owned just to be able to look into her eyes and see her smile.

-------------

Something was going on with her.

Why was she looking like that?

He couldn't get past the fact that something was wrong with Temperance. He could see that there was something bothering her, but couldn't put a finger on what it was.

Maybe she was starting to resign herself to the fact that _Special Agent Booth_ wasn't going to come to her rescue this time. He wasn't going to swoop in and whisk her away from the danger she was in.

He wouldn't let her go. Not to him. Not to the man that didn't even know that she was alive. The man that didn't realize that she loved him.

He was watching her moved around her room and stood there wondering what was wrong. He could tell by the way she was walking that something was off. He didn't know what though.

She was wearing a shirt and pair of sweats that he had left in the room for her. Neither gave her body the attention it so rightly deserved, but it would do for now.

He watched as she stopped in front of the mirror. She looked at herself for a minute before backing away and raising her hands above her head to stretch. He let his eyes roam over her body, while feeling is own becoming alert.

Then everything stopped. His breath. His heart.

That was when he realized what had been off about her. What had been bothering her since she arrived 'home' with him.

There was a slight bulge to her stomach that he had failed to notice in her room two weeks ago. He had failed to notice it the entire time that he had been watching her.

How did that get past him?

-----------

_You are going to be alright, Cheyenne._

_Brittney..._

_Alice..._

_Janet..._

_Joy…_

_Whatever your name is going to be…you are going to be fine. I promise. I will not let this monster hurt you. Somehow you will get back to your daddy, even if I can't be with you._

She never thought that she would be one to talk to a baby before it was born, but here she was doing that exact thing. She was trying to give the baby the assurance that she herself did not have.

She wanted her to feel the love that her mother had for her, even before her birth. Even if she wasn't there for her when she grew up, she wanted her daughter to know that her mother loved her.

She wanted her to know that she fought for her life. Put her life above her own.

She would do anything he wanted her to do, as long as her daughter lived. She would live with him forever; she would go along with his sick fantasies ceaselessly. As long as her daughter lived it didn't matter if she lived or not.

Every night while she lay in the disgusting thing that was supposed to be a bed, she thought about Booth. She thought about how good of a father he would be to their daughter.

She hoped that he would tell her how her mother had protected her…had loved her. She hoped that her daughter grew up knowing that it wasn't her decision to be taken from her.

She was saddened to know that, like herself, her child would grow up without a mother. Not having her mother there for her, had shaped her life and made her the person that she was today.

She didn't want to think about it, but maybe in the future Booth would get married to a nice woman who would treat their daughter like her own. If he did, maybe they would have more kids so she wouldn't be so alone.

_Booth…please don't forget about me. Please try to find me. I know that things have been stressed between us recently, but I need you. _

-----------

Angela was sitting in her office when she heard a commotion coming from Bren's office. She jumped up and went running, knowing that something had happened. She prayed that it wasn't anything bad.

She could see a couple people standing just outside the door way, but none of them were going in. pushing her way to the front she saw what all the noise was about, and her heart jumped again.

Booth had tipped over his desk; computer, papers and all were scattered all over the floor. By the looks of it, he had done it in one swoop then collapsed behind the overturned desk.

"Don't you have other things to attend to?" She scolded the interns that had gathered.

Stepping inside, she shut the door behind her and walked over to him. Sighing she knelt down in front of him and was startled to see him crying.

_He was alpha-male. He was a knight in shining armor. He was FBI hunk._

"Booth…" he flinched when she called his name, so she lowered her voice. "Booth, are you okay? You haven't talked much, and that can't be good. You can't keep every thing bottled up."

She watched as her words sank into his ears. His eyes opened, but she could see they looked dead, like half his soul was missing.

"I can't Angela."

"Hey…you can talk to me. You know that. She is my best friend too. I am missing her just like you are."

"Why didn't she tell me? She could have told me, but she didn't."

"Yeah, I know." Tears came to her eyes, but she just brushed them away with the back of her hand. "I should have noticed that something was different about her. Why didn't I notice that she was gaining weight?"

He didn't answer her question, so they just sat there. Eventually Angela started crying and he reached over and pulled her into his arms. They held onto one another as they cried over their lost friend.

Neither noticed when Hodgins walked up to the door and stood there watching them, not wanting to interrupt them. He knew and understood that they both needed this. They needed to lean on one another.

After a while Angela stood up and brushed her hands through her hair. She held her hands out to him and pulled him up to his feet.

"Okay, Booth." She said squaring her shoulders and looking straight into his eyes. "We are going to find them. Nothing is going to happen to either one of them. We will not let anything happen."

She waited for him to nod before she turned and left his office. When she turned to look back at him, she saw him slowly picking up the stuff scattered all over the room. He stopped when he came to a picture of Brennan, and when he picked it up he smiled and ran his fingers over her face.

-------------

After breaking down in his office with Angela, he was kind of happy that he did. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to keep his emotions bottled up for too long before they came shooting out.

He was happy that she had been there for him, just like he was there for her. They both had a connection to Bones, although both in their own ways. He knew that she loved Bones, just like he did.

When she left him, he started cleaning up the mess that he had made. He knew if Bones were to walk into her office right now she would have a fit.

He reached down and picked up a picture of her and smiled. He ran his fingers over her face, and prayed that they would find her soon. They needed to find her soon.

**A/N: Is it still good? I decided to write a little about how each person was doing with her kidnapping. I didn't want to put too much into it, but I think I did.**

**Comments are welcome!!!!!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello again. I am back, and trying to write the rest of this story. Let me know what yall are thinking.**

**So, here I am again, trying to figure out how far along she is…I think I have it narrowed down. She is between 6 ½ and 7 months. I think maybe about 6 ¾ months along.**

**AS ALWAYS…I DON'T OWN BONES OR ANY CHARACTERS…SO SAD!!**

**Missing 1 month**

_How did that get past him? _

He had been repeating that for the past two weeks. How the hell did that get past him? How did something that significant get past him?

He should have noticed that she was starting to look bigger in the stomach. Should have noticed that she was actually eating the food he was giving her.

Why didn't he notice?

He loved her, but this just slipped past him.

Then he started thinking about who the father might be. He knew that she hadn't been dating anyone for a while…hmmm. Had she been sleeping with someone just for the sex?

Then the thought entered in his mind, that maybe it was her _partner_ that had gotten her pregnant. Maybe that was what caused them to terminate their partnership.

Thinking about his Temperance and that man having sex pushed him to the edge. He started screaming obscenities at himself in the mirror. He was filled with so much resentment for that man, that he felt like he was going to explode.

He started tearing up his living room…he pulled books of the shelves…he knocked the TV off its stand…he picked up a lamp and threw it across the room…he punched holes in the walls.

He was imagining Booth every time a punch landed in the wall. He imagined tearing up his face with his punches. He wanted to make him look physically, how he felt emotionally.

He was going to have to regain control of his emotions before he went in to see his lady love. He didn't want her to see the anger in his eyes, because she might think that it was directed towards her.

He would never let her think that he didn't care about her. She was the only one he did care about. Every thing he did was for her; to make her happy.

--------------

She still hadn't see much of him. Sometimes she wondered if he was even in the same house(?), or apartment(?) that she was in. There were days when she didn't hear any sound at all.

Slowly, resigning herself to the fact that she was going to be here for a while, she started exploring the little room that she was being kept in. She was surprised at what she found.

There was a little refrigerator in her room that had juice and water in it. She found food in some shipping boxes that were stacked up in the corner.

What she found on the bookshelves scared her a little bit. They were filled with her books, hundreds of copies of them. Lining shelf after shelf, only her books.

She had to make herself believe that everything was going to work out. She could not think in the negatively, because if she did she would start to lose faith. She would start thinking that she would never be found.

What was he going to do to her once he figured out that she was pregnant? That slipped into her mind every second, of every day. What would he do?

Would he kill her just to get rid of the baby? Would he just kill the baby once it was born?

That was another fear that had crept into her mind. She didn't know anything about giving birth. She hadn't attended any classes yet, so she didn't know the proper breathing techniques.

How was she going to give birth when she didn't know what to do?

She hadn't been to see her doctor in almost a month. How did she know if the baby was progressing like she was supposed to be? Was she still living?

What if there was a problem with her and they hadn't found out about it yet? What was she going to do if something bad were to happen to her or the baby because of it?

Was he going to come in and try to help her? Did he have someone working with him? Is that how he got her here, wherever here was, so quickly?

_I don't know if you can hear me, or even if you can understand what I am saying, but I am going to keep talking to you for as long as I can._

_I want you to be strong, little one. I want you to be strong and courageous like your daddy. _

_You are going to have a tough time in the beginning, but I need for you to fight for your life._

_I will fight for you as long as I can, then it is your job. _

She talked to the baby often, wanting her to know her voice. She wanted the little girl to know who her mommy was, especially if she wasn't there to watch her grow up.

She wanted her daughter to know that she fought that monster every step of the way, for her. Nothing was going to harm her child, especially if she had anything to say about it.

_Booth…you need to find us. There is still some time left, but you need to find us soon._

-----------

He was starting to get discouraged. They still had not been able to find Bones. They didn't even know where to begin looking for her. They hadn't gotten any tips in weeks.

He didn't want to, but he began to lose hope that they would actually find her and the baby alive. He began to think that he had been targeted, that they had gone after her because of him.

He also thought that maybe some crazy fan of hers had grabbed her. They might have begun to think that she was writing about him in her books. There was a small possibility someone took her to complete some sort of crazy 'collection.'

They had already spoken with her publisher and they had been given all fan mail that she had received. The mail had been sorted through, and they had spoken with all her 'crazy' fans. Even if some of them were a bit crazy and a tad stalker-ish, they had ruled all of them out.

He wondered if someone had been stalking her. They had experienced that when Fat Pam shot him at that karaoke club. She had been stalking the victim before he was killed.

How could he have missed someone following her? He was a trained sniper, he should have caught on. Even though they weren't together as much as they had been in the past, they were still working on cases together.

He should have been more aware of their surroundings. He should have gone with his gut when he felt like they were brought watched at crime scenes, but he let it go. He didn't want her to think that he was being overprotective again.

While he was sitting at his desk his phone started ringing and he debated on whether or not he should answer it. He decided to let it go to voicemail, until Cam came walking in with her cell phone in her hand.

"Seely, you need to start answering your calls." She said handing her phone to him.

"Who is calling you to talk to me?" She smiled at his question.

"Jarhead."

"Why the hell is Jared calling you?"

"Could it be because you ARE NOT answering your damn phone? I am not going to be your secretary any more Seely! Start answering your phone calls or you are going to be moved back into your office in the Hoover building."

Before he could respond to her outburst she turned on her heels and click-clacked out of the room. He knew that she was controlling her anger, so he decided not to push her anymore.

"What do you want Jared?"

"I was just calling to see how you were, big brother. I hadn't heard from you in a while."

Leaning back in his chair, he said "Not my fault, Jared. I have been busy."

"Found anything yet? I know last time we talked nothing had been found. I was just calling to see if anything had progressed since then?"

"Nope. Nothing. We are stuck where we were two weeks ago."

"Oh, sorry." Booth didn't hear that in his voice though.

"Anyways, how are you liking Seattle so far? I know that you weren't too thrilled about the weather, but other than that how are things?"

"Great. Been hanging out with an old buddy that is here. I have finally gotten kind of used to the weather. I have learned to carry an umbrella with me everywhere, every day."

He continued talking, but Booth started thinking about the case that Bones had been working on before she disappeared. He knew that the squints were still stuck on what had actually happened to the guy.

"Jared…stop talking! I gotta go. I'll call you later."

Not waiting for an answer, he hung the phone up while running into the lab looking for Hodgins and Cam.

"Hey!" he yelled out. "I was thinking about the case that has been baffling us."

"What's up Seely?" Cam asked perplexed. She knew that he normally left things to them.

"We still haven't been able to find cause of death for that victim Bones was working on, right?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything, Booth?" Angela had joined them.

"What if they are connected?"

"Meaning what Booth?" Hodgins asked.

"There hasn't been a cause of death determined, correct?" They nodded, so he continued. "What if, what if his death and her disappearance were done by the same person?"

"Why would someone do that, Agent Booth?" Zack had walked up behind them.

"You saw how she was when we couldn't find cause of death, Zack." Angela explained. "You saw how it affected her. What if someone killed him to weaken her? With the state she was it at the time; they had no problem breaking her spirit."

Cam agreed adding "They must have used a poison of some sort. Something that broke down in the body slowly after death. That's why we weren't able to find anything."

"What do you mean Cam?" Booth asked.

Hodgins jumped in. "We can't test for every poison. Some of them have very particular tests that we would have to run, so we just run a wide spectrum test. It covers the basic poisons and drugs…understand Booth?" He nodded, so Hodgins continued. "If there isn't any evidence of poisoning before death, we wouldn't even know what to start testing for."

"Can we test for poisons now? Is that even possible?"

"I don't think so." Cam answered. "The tests we would run require blood, and before we did the autopsy we didn't suspect poison so we didn't draw enough blood to run the number of tests we would need to do to acquire the answer to our question."

"So," Angela said "we know how he died, but we don't know who killed him.  
Are we ever going to be able to find that out?"

"I don't know, Angela. How are we going to find that out, if we don't know what killed him. We can't trace the poison to anyone, so now we wait."

They all knew what he meant. They had to wait until the kidnapper made a mistake. That was going to be the only way for them to find her. He or she was going to have mess up, and that would be when they found Bones.

**A/N: So this was a hard chapter to right…I couldn't seem to get it out correctly. So hopefully it will make some sense to yall, the readers. If I got anything wrong with it, let me know.**

**Comments are always welcome!!!!**


	21. Chapter 21

**I know…it has been a while since I have updated this story, and I am very sorry for that. Hopefully these next few chapters will make everyone happy.**

**Thank you to a reader for correcting me in my spelling of Seeley's name, as I was spelling it Seely.**

**Bones is now, about 7½ to 8 months pregnant. **

**AS ALWAYS…I DO NOT OWN BONES OR ANY CHARACTERS.**

**Missing 2 months**

Purgatory.

Hell.

She didn't believe that either one existed, but she felt like she was living in Hell. The room that she had been kept in since they arrived had become her own, personal hell.

The few times he had to come into her room he wouldn't look at her. He never spoke to her, never asked anything of her. He never touched her, except for when he brought her into the room.

He didn't do anything to her, didn't hurt her in any way. But he wouldn't let her leave; wouldn't let her go outside. He wouldn't let the warm rays of the sunlight touch her skin.

He was keeping her from her natural habitat, her life. He was keeping her locked up when she longed to be outdoors. She ached for the wilds of Africa, the jungles of Panama, the culture of Japan.

She couldn't remember what it looked like outside. She was starting to forget what the stars looked like in the night sky. She was forgetting what the Jeffersonian looked like…what her friends looked like.

But, she would not let herself forget what Booth looked like.

He might be breaking her spirit, taking away her ability to hold on to her most precious memories, but she would not let him take that from her. No matter what he did to her, he would not make her forget Booth.

She thought about him often, wondering what he was doing. She always hoped that he was looking for her, but she knew that after this long Cullen would have made him move on to a new case.

She thought about their baby, hoping that one day he would get to see his daughter…but coming to grip with the fact that that might not be possible. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she hoped that it would be quick. She didn't want to think about her child in pain.

She wished that she hadn't pushed her father away for so long. She knew why he and her mother left her and Russ, and now she understood it. They did it to protect them; just like she would do anything to protect her daughter.

She never thought that she would forget anything. She had to remember things, mundane facts…things that 'normal' people wouldn't even imagine, but she couldn't remember what Angela's voice sounded like. She couldn't distinguish between Zack and Hodgins when she remembered them yelling 'King of the Lab!'

She would see them and hear them in her dreams, but when she woke up they would be gone. Fleeting reminders of what her life had been.

_Booth, please don't forget about me. I am forgetting Angela and Hodgins and Zack, but I don't want you or anyone to forget about me. _

_I keep thinking that one day that door is going to open, and you are going to be standing there. You are going to come rescue me, like all the times before, riding in on your white horse. My knight in FBI shining armor._

He had to come take her away from this hell. Her hell.

------------

He couldn't do anything else for her. He felt like he had failed her…failed the person that he had always promised to protect. Other than Parker, she was the single most important person in his life and he had failed her.

Booth hadn't worked on any other case since Bones had been taken, deferring them to other agents. Cullen had understood the first few weeks, but then he started putting pressure on him to get back to his job.

He remembered back to the day when he had been called into Cullen's office…

"_Agent Booth, please have a seat." _

_He had come straight here when he found out that the Deputy Director had requested his presence. When he walked into the room, however, he quickly figured out that he wasn't the only one to be called into Cullen's office._

_His eyes swept to the person that was seated in front of Cullen's desk, and hardened when he realized who it was._

"_Dr. Sweets is here because I asked him to be here, Agent Booth."_

_Taking a seat without looking at Sweets, "Why am I here Cullen? I haven't done anything to warrant being called into your office."_

_He looked at Sweets before answering. "We are worried…"_

"_Don't be. I'm fine." He had to get out of here. "If that is all, I have things I need to do."_

"_Agent Booth" Sweets started to say, but when Booths face looked at him he thought better of it._

"_Booth, you need face facts." The storm in his eyes started brewing again, with every word that Cullen spoke. "There have been __**no**__ leads. There is nothing to tell us where she might be. We cannot keep wasting time trying to look for someone who isn't there." Both men could see his eyes grow dark. "We need you back. You need to do your job." _

"_No."_

"_What?!" Cullen and Sweets said shocked._

"_No. I can't do my job. I won't do my job. When I find her, and I will, __**we**__ will do our jobs again."_

_Cullen took a breath, "We cannot wait that long. We cannot wait till we find her."_

"_Then, you don't have to worry." Standing up and going to the closed door, "I resign."_

He had failed her. Again.

What was he going to do? They had nothing to go on. They no more evidence to sift through. No more witness to interview.

He had failed.

---------------

Getting information about an ongoing FBI Missing Persons case wasn't too hard for someone of Max's background. He knew who to contact; knew who could give him what information.

He also knew who to call when the authorities were going no where.

_Ring-Ring_

"Hello"

"Firth. Have you found anything?"

He wasn't a praying man, except for when he had pretended to be a priest, but he had been praying that Firth had found something. Anything.

"Man, lemme tell ya, I put feelers out…" he knew what was coming next.

"You didn't find anything, did you?"

"Sorry man. If I hear anything I will let you know."

He hung up on the one contact he knew could get him information. He knew it then, that they were screwed. He knew that if he couldn't get anything, then the FBI had nothing to go on too.

What was he going to do? He had never been there for his daughter, but he had never quit loving her or worrying about her. He knew that she was a fighter, but even she had her breaking points.

He knew that she depended on Booth, more than she would like to admit. He also knew that if anything happened to her, Booth was going to be a broken man…no much unlike himself when his Ruthie died.

He knew what Booth was capable of, and prayed that nothing happened to Tempe. If anything happened to her or to their child, he knew that Booth would be pushed over the edge.

He had been watching Booth over the past few weeks, and could see that he wasn't doing much better than he was. Booth, from what he could see, hadn't been sleeping and he was drinking again. Also, he was starting to lose weight.

_God help the people that did this to Tempe…because, if Booth finds them, God is going to be the only thing to save them from his unyielding wrath._

_Nothing can happen to her…if something does, nothing will keep him from going after them. No one will be able to control him; help him reign in his emotions._

-------------

She needed to do something…needed to keep her hands and mind busy, if only for a few hours. Not knowing what she wanted to do she started wandering around her and Hodgins' house, and ended up in a room that she hadn't been in since Bren went missing.

Her studio.

Her eyes immediately went to a canvas that had remained untouched for the past five months. Bren had given it to her after an argument, knowing that she would create a masterpiece on it.

Not knowing what she wanted to paint on it, she had it put in the corner until she could decide what would go on it. She knew that it had to be special, not just anything.

After getting some of their 'people' to help her move the large canvas to a more convenient work spot, she sat down in front of it. She still didn't know what she wanted to do, so she stared at it for an hour until it hit her.

Grabbing her paints and brushes she started working.

She didn't stop. She couldn't stop. She didn't want to miss anything. She would not leave anything out. She had to get everything right. Not mess anything up.

She had been working for hours when she heard jack knock softly on the door.

"Angela, babe, are you in here?"

She didn't answer, not wanting to take her mind off her task but she heard him open the door and come in. she knew he wouldn't come closer, but was surprised when she heard the gasp behind her.

"Jack, I am working. What do you want?"

"Martha," indicating their housekeeper "called me to let me know that you were in her. She told me that you hadn't come down for dinner, and she was worried about you."

"I am find, honey. I **need** to finish this, please."

She didn't need to look at Jack for him to hear the desperation in her voice. She needed this, and he knew it.

"Okay" and with that she heard him leave her studio.

She had to get this finished…if not tonight, then tomorrow, but she needed to get this done. Done for her and Hodgins and Zack and Booth and even Max.

---------

Hodgins was used to getting calls from the people who worked for him; he got them all the time. they wanted to know if he wanted to donate money to this or that cause, wanted to know what he would like for dinner, wanted to know if he was going to attend this meeting or not. He was surprised to get a call from Martha that afternoon though.

He knew that she cared for Angela like she was her own daughter, and she wouldn't call regarding her unless something was really wrong. He knew that it was something big when she said that Angela wouldn't come out of her studio.

When he walked into the studio that evening, he was astonished to see the piece of artwork that was in front of his wife. He had never seen her work on something that complex, that personal before.

After talking to her for a minute, before leaving, he had to look at the painting once more. He stared at every aspect of it, not wanting to forget one detail. He felt it soaking into his memory, knowing that he would never forget it.

_One day she would see it. She just has to._

--------------

_She's mine…why does she keep talking about Booth in her sleep? Doesn't she know that he isn't going to come help her this time? _

_Why doesn't she forget about him? She has me now; she doesn't need to worry about him anymore._

He had heard her talking in her sleep again, and had become enraged again. No matter what he did to break her will, she still thought about him.

He laughed to himself, knowing that there was no way for him to rescue her this time. he knew of the other times that he had dropped in, saving her at the last minute, but knew that there was no way for him to do that this time.

He knew that he was going to have to take care of the problem that has arisen, but he didn't know what he was going to do. He was going to need help, he knew that much, but he didn't know who to trust.

He was going to need to find someone soon, because he could not lose her because of his own stupidity and anger towards the problem. He had lost her once before, and he **would not** allow that to happen again.

**A/N: what did everyone think about this chapter? I have been working on it for a couple hours, and for now I am happy with it. I wanted to show how things are starting to affect her…I am not trying to make her seem weak.**

**COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED…PLEASE!!!!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Here is my next chapter…hopefully everyone will like it. If you find something wrong with the chapter let me know so I can fix it.**

**Bones should be 8½ to 9 months pregnant.**

**As always, I do not own Bones…so sad, yet again.**

**Missing 3 months**

_What am I going to do? I can't let anything happen to her. She is mine. I can't let that 'thing' kill her. What am I going to do?_

He had been uttering that to himself for the past two weeks. He knew that the time was slowly coming to an end, and he was going to have to do something. But he didn't know what.

Who could he call? Who did he trust enough? Someone who wouldn't spill his secret.

He smiled to himself and grabbed his phone, while mentally going through his internal phone book. He knew of one person that would be willing to help him. One person who wouldn't go and turn him in to the police.

_Ring-Ring_

"What do you want?" he smiled.

"I need you to come here. I have a job that only you can handle."

He heard her sigh, "When?"

"Now. I don't know what is going to happen."

"Where?"

"Same place as last time. Bring your kit."

"Fine. Two days."

After getting off the phone his nerves calmed a little bit. He knew that this was the best person to call for the job.

He knew that there was no way she was going to let anything slip. He had too much information on her, so there was no way she would out him or any of his plans.

Checking on Temperance he could see that she was becoming more uncomfortable by the day. She wasn't walking as much and she was sleeping more. She also wasn't eating the food that he had put in her room.

_Only a couple more weeks, My Temperance. We will get rid of that abomination, and then we can live the rest of our lives together._

--------------

She couldn't walk. She couldn't eat. She could barely sleep.

Temperance didn't know much about having a baby, but she knew that things were coming to an end and she was getting scared. She knew about the human body, knew that she could give birth, but she knew **nothing** about actually giving birth.

What was she going to do when that time actually came? These weren't sanitary conditions, by any means, but what was she going to do?

_Booth…I know that you are out there. You have to find me soon. What am I going to do when our baby is born? How am I going to protect her from that monster? You have to come at take her away from this place. You can't let him get his nasty hands on her._

_Booth…I know that I haven't treated you like I should be, you don't deserve to be treated like that. I need you to know that I really do care for you. I don't know why I overreacted the way I did…I need to tell you that._

_Please…you need to find me and the baby. You need to take us away from here. Please._

She knew that he couldn't hear her thoughts, but she had to keep talking to herself. She had already lost enough in this madness; she didn't want to loose Booth too. He was her only link to keeping her sanity.

She was slowly becoming more and more uncomfortable as the days went by. Despite her small frame, she had become much larger than she should have. To her, it seemed like her body was becoming unable to handle the strain of the baby.

_Booth, you need to come now. I don't know how much longer I am going to be able to protect her. My strength is slowly starting to slip away from me. I can't eat. I try to sleep, but I can't._

-----------------

Cullen had to put him on temporary leave. He had hated putting Booth on leave, but knew that if he didn't that he was liable to go off at any moment. He was already having problems with him and the other agents. Some of them were talking the other day and Booth heard them. Needless to say, two of them ended up in the hospital and it took four more to hold him back.

Cullen didn't now what else to do. He had already exhausted every single lead they had received in regards to her disappearance, and still they found nothing. He was afraid if they didn't find something new soon, he was going to lose his best agent.

-------------

He was sitting back at his desk in her office watching the door. He was trying to imagine her walking through the door, yelling at him for taking over her office. He sighed, knowing that it wasn't going to happen.

The only times he was seeing her these days was in his dreams. She would come to him at night, as beautiful as ever. They felt so real, like she was actually there with him…in his bed, at the diner, at the lab. But when he woke up, he was hit with the realization, once again, that she wasn't there.

It had affected him worse than the others, except for maybe Angela. At first he was working himself to the bone, unable to go home to his empty apartment at night.

He started skipping meals, until he started losing weight. Cam and Angela noticed that his clothes were hanging much looser on him, and they had started bringing in food for him. They had to sit over him to make sure that he was eating it, and not throwing it away.

He had to find her, but he didn't know where to begin. They still had nothing to go on. No leads. No evidence.

_Dear God…you need to protect Temperance and the baby. I know that it is in your power to watch over them. I ask that you lay your hands over them…keep them from harm…watch over them until I can get to them._

He had taken to praying more during the day. His St. Christopher Medal no longer hung around his neck. He kept it in his hands, needing the feel of it between his fingers.

He had also been going by his church more than usual, needing the serenity that seemed to fill him when he was there. The first couple times his priest would come over to talk, but he realized he wasn't there for his words.

One day when he was in the office, he heard some voices coming from the forensic platform. Thinking that they might have found something he got up to go see what it was, but he didn't find what he was expecting.

He saw Angela directing four men. They were carrying a large, flat thing. It looked like a big picture, but it was covered by a large cloth.

She had them set it up against a wall, and when she striped away the fabric…all he could do was stare.

------------

"Jack…come to the studio." He heard over the intercom system.

He stood there in his home lab for a second wondering if something was wrong. She had never willingly invited him in there.

"Jack…" He dropped his stuff when he heard her call him again.

When he entered the room his eyes immediately went to the canvas that she had been working on for the past two weeks. He had barely seen her, knowing that she wanted **this** to be perfect.

Speechless.

Unable to speak.

But not unable to think…

Perfect.

That was all he could think. It was perfect.

"We need to take it to the lab."

**A/N: So…I don't know if this chapter is as long as the other ones, but I am leading up to the final couple of chapters. Hopefully they won't be too long.**

**Comments are always welcome!!!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hoping that everyone is liking this story. Sorry for taking so long to update it…my mind got sidetracked.**

**She is like 9 months pregnant…it's almost time.**

**Again I say, I don't own Bones…so sad.**

**Missing two and a half months**

They hadn't given up on her. They knew that she was a fighter. Knew that she would do what she could to protect herself and her baby.

Angela, Booth, Cam, Zack and Hodgins had taken to eating at least one meal together each day, most of the time meeting at the diner for dinner.

At first it was a sad meal. When they did talk, they cried. Slowly things began to change.

They began remembering the fun times. Started talking about her, remembering the smallest things were making them happy.

Their waitresses noticed the changes too. They remembered them from the beginning; none of them wanting to talk, for fear of making the others cry. Then they slowly started talking more.

They were all praying for the best and preparing for the worst. The five of them knew what the chances were after a certain period of time. They knew that were probably going to be searching for remains.

But they wouldn't talk about that. They were going to keep her alive in their minds. She would come home soon, and she would be bringing her baby girl with her.

------------

He had been watching her and knew when it started. He was happy that he had made the call. He needed her here to deal with Tempe getting rid of that thing.

He wanted her body to be free of that disease; he had begun thinking of it like that. Once he got that thing away from here and from her they would be able to get on with their lives.

He just had to make sure that she took it far away and got rid of it.

He didn't think about how, but he wanted it out of this world, and he told her so. When she didn't answer he turned around to look at her.

He knew that she caught his meaning when she saw his eyes, and without saying anything nodded.

-------------

It was time.

She had known for a while…knew that it was time.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she felt the water starting to drip.

She couldn't do this alone.

She needed Booth there with her.

Not wanting to tip the monster off, she lay in her bed without moving.

Until the pain became too unbearable.

Then the door opened…and in stepped a woman that she hadn't seen before.

-----------

She had come as soon as he had called her. She knew not to question him, knowing what he was capable of.

When she got there she was expecting to see him with bullet wounds. But she was unprepared for what she saw when he took her to the window looking into her room.

She was divided between wanting to run away and staying. She knew that if she ran, than this lady and her baby were going to die. She couldn't let that happen. She wanted to run because she didn't want to be involved.

She had seen this lady on TV; knew who she was. She had been missing for almost three months, maybe. Her family and friends were worried about her, they wanted her home.

She knew what she couldn't leave though; knew that she had to help her in any way that she could.

He told her that he wanted her to get rid of the baby. What was she going to do? She couldn't kill a baby. She couldn't.

She would get this baby away from him…far away. Somehow she would make sure that this baby survived. This baby would get home, even if the cost would be deadly for her.

She had been standing there with him, watching her. They knew that the time had arrived.

She looked at him and he nodded at her.

She left him and walked to the door to her room.

Opening the door slowly, she stepped into the semi darkened room.

"Please…don't hurt my baby." That was the first thing she heard. "Take her away. Please. I will do what ever he wants, just don't hurt her."

She didn't say anything while she laid her bag on the table that was in the room. She started pulling out different surgical instruments, one by one.

_Hopefully, _she thought to herself, _hopefully we wont need to use them. _

For the next eight hours she helped this woman through her labor. She held her hand, wiped her face when she needed it, gave her the drugs when she asked for them.

She didn't know what to expect…didn't know if this baby was going to come out naturally, or if she was going to have to go in and take it.

But…

After nine hours of labor, and two hours of pushing her beautiful baby girl came into this world.

Knowing that she didn't have much time, she leaned in and spoke quickly to the woman lying in front of her.

"I need you to give me a word, anything, that would help your family know that this baby was yours."

------------

She didn't know what to think. She wanted to believe this woman who helped her delivers her baby, but she couldn't. He had brought her in, so didn't that mean that she was just like him?

"Quickly. Now. Before he comes in."

She looked at her, and knew by the look on her face that she was truthful. She had spent enough time in the interrogation rooms with Booth to know when someone was telling the truth.

"Delphinus." She nodded.

"They will know what this means?"

"Yes. Please…make sure that she is safe. I don't want her to be hurt."

Brennan took one look at the woman and knew that her baby was going to be safe. She knew that she shouldn't trust her, but something in her eyes told Brennan that her baby was going to make it.

She didn't even get the chance to hold her baby. All she got was a glance as the lady held her up quickly after she was born.

She knew that he had to of been watching them. That was why she didn't get to see her baby. He didn't want to associate the baby with her.

She watched as the woman finished cleaning her up. She felt her heart breaking when she carried her daughter out of the room. It shattered when the door shut. She knew that her daughter's life was in the hands of a total stranger.

_God…this is Temperance Brennan again. I know that I haven't talked to you in a while, but this isn't really for me. This is for my daughter…Booth's daughter. Please, watch over her. Protect her. I know that Booth has faith in you; his faith is unbreakable. Please…I want my daughter to live…protect her. Make sure that she makes it back to Booth…he is going to need her. Thank you._

**A/N: I hope this was good. I don't want to upset any readers. I am hoping that it is not too boring. Comments please.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Okay…I know the way that I have been dating this thing has been very confusing…I have gotten confused myself. Hehe.**

**From here on out the dating is going to be going from the time that she had her baby. **

**Ex. – 1 day after birth…..understand? Hope so **

**As always…I don't own Bones…so, so sad.**

**2 days after birth**

She didn't know that it would hurt this much. She had been through painful situations before, but never one this heartbreaking. She had never felt as though her insides were being ripped out, one by one…until now.

When the lady took her daughter away, she felt her whole world slip away. She did not even get the chance to hold her…tell her that her mommy loved her. She was gone.

Brennan knew that it was better this way, now she didn't have to worry about him hurting her daughter. But she still worried about whether or not the mysterious lady would hurt her daughter or not.

She hadn't moved since giving birth. Every single time she shifted in her bed, she could feel the stitches. She didn't want to feel them. She didn't want the reminder that her baby wasn't there anymore.

_Booth…please understand what I said. Please. I need you to remember._

She hoped that he would remember some of their conversations. She hoped that he hadn't forgotten about her favorite things.

She smiled to herself because she knew that it wasn't possible for him to forget something like that. He remembered little things about her that even she didn't remember telling him.

Her favorite flowers.

Her favorite animal.

She knew that he would find their daughter. She knew that Sweets would have told him by now. He would be out there, forever, searching for their daughter.

-----------

_Finally._

_At last that thing is gone._

_I don't have to worry about anything coming between us anymore. There is no one out there that can separate us now. She got rid of the baby, so I don't have to worry about that brat popping up anytime soon._

He was proud of himself. He had called her in to help him handle the situation, and she had done the job perfectly. He didn't have to worry any longer.

He knew that she had 'taken care' of the baby. She knew what he would do if she crossed him; the things that he had at his disposal.

Now…all he had to do was wait for her to get over it. Get over the pain of giving birth. Then they would be together forever.

He watched her as she cried softly, but felt no remorse. He would do anything to make sure that she wouldn't be taken away from him again.

She was his…forever.

-----------

After taking the baby away from that house she drove and drove until she had to stop for gas. She didn't stop to go to the bathroom, or get something to eat. She had to get away from him.

She had to get the baby girl away from him. She would not let him harm her. Couldn't let him harm her.

She didn't know what she was going to do with the baby, where she was going to drop it off…until she saw a police car parked in a drugstore parking lot.

Pulling into the lot, she parked the car near the car. She didn't want to get caught on any cameras, so before getting out she pulled a wig over her hair. She knew what the consequences were if she were caught.

Taking the baby with her, she walked up to the unsuspecting cop while he was eating his lunch. She knocked on his window and prayed that he would help her.

"Yes, ma'am. What can I do for you?"

"Take her." She said handing the baby over to him.

"What?" Before he could ask any questions she started running away. "Ma'am. You need to come back."

Before she climbed into her car, she shouted out "Delphinus. Remember that."

She saw him nod, and got into her car. She looked back to make sure he wasn't watching her. When she was sure that he wasn't, she flew out of that parking lot.

She knew that it would be a matter of time before she was found out and she needed to get out of the country. She didn't have any other clothing with her, but that didn't matter.

She drove straight to the airport, and got a one-way ticket for Brazil. She knew that if he found out about her betrayal she wouldn't be able to get far enough away from him.

------------

_Ring-Ring_

Max was woken up at 2:45 in the morning by his cell phone ringing in his ear. He knew that something must have happened. No one would ever call him that early.

Bracing himself for the worst he answered his phone. "Hello"

"Firth here. Something has happened." He shot up out of his bed.

"Not with Joy? Temperance?"

"Maybe."

"What happened?"

"A contact told me that a woman has disappeared. She flew down to Brazil yesterday and now she is missing."

"What does that have to do with my daughter?"

"She was well versed in labor and delivery. She had her license taken away years ago, but she is available for hire."

"Meaning what?"

"She might have had something to do with Joy."

"Thanks."

What was he going to do with this information?

He doubted if there was a chance for the baby or his daughter to still be alive. He knew that they were probably both dead by now, and if not they would be soon.

-------------

Everyone who worked at the Jeffersonian had taken to coming by the lab at least once a day. They all had their own excuses for needing to be there, but Booth knew exactly why they were there.

Word of Angela's painting had spread faster than he thought. He had been sitting there gazing at it, once again, when he noticed other's looking at it too. He moved back so they could see it.

He climbed the steps to where the meeting area was. He wanted to watch the people who were gathering below. He was shocked when the people kept coming in; most of them he didn't recognize.

"They all came to see the painting." Cam had come up behind him. "They knew her. Respected her. They didn't care that she didn't remember their names. They knew that she would be there if they needed her."

He didn't want to say anything, because he knew that she was speaking a part truth. He didn't want to say something bad about Bones; he couldn't think badly about her.

Sensing the disagreement in his face, she continued "See that man praying in front of it?" He saw who she was pointing to and nodded. "His daughter was diagnosed with leukemia last year. His insurance wouldn't cover all of the cost for her treatments. Dr. Brennan found out and called her doctors. She told them to send all the hospital bills to her."

"What?" Cam nodded her head.

"Yep. She didn't tell anyone. She didn't want them to know. Now his little girl is in the second grade and cancer free."

He watched as the man finished praying and knelt down to leave a drawing and a rosary. He squinted and saw that the drawing had been done by his daughter. She drew a picture of Bones and had a caption saying 'I hope you come home soon. I miss you.'

They stood there, watching the crowd below and soon they were joined by Hodgins and Angela. For the next couple hours they watched as people they didn't even know came through to see the painting.

They noticed that more flowers were being added to the pile. Different colors. Different types.

He couldn't believe it. People that she had thought below her. People she thought weren't as smart as her. They were coming by to remember her.

"She needs to come back." It was the first any of them had spoken for over an hour. "She needs to see that she is loved. She is part of a family."

He had to leave before any of them saw him crying. He had to get out of there. Running down the steps he quickly made his way to his SUV in the parking garage, but he didn't leave. He sat there as the tears ran down his face.

_She has to come back. She needs to see that she is loved and needed._

---------------

She had just come into the hospital to start her shift working in the Emergency Room when a young cop came in.

"Nurse. Please I need your help."

She waved him over "What's wrong officer?"

"This."

She looked down in his arms and saw a newborn baby wrapped up in blankets. Looking back up, she saw the shock that was still in his eyes. She called over her shoulder for a doctor and took the baby from his arms quickly.

"Where did you find her?"

"I was eating lunch and some woman came up to my car. She handed it to me and left. I came straight here."

"Why didn't you call an ambulance?"

He looked scared, thinking that he made a mistake bringing her here instead of calling for backup.

"I wanted to get her here."

She went back with the doctors to help determine the condition of their newest patient, and was shocked when they said that she was in perfect condition. Despite everything she had been through she was wonderful.

When she finally opened her eyes to look at them, they were shocked at the intensity of the blue in them. She looked around, as if she was actually able to see and remember everything.

Going back to find the young officer that brought her in, she asked him if the woman said anything to him about the baby.

"No. all she said was 'Take her.' That was all. Then she ran off."

She nodded, taking notes. She knew that the possibility of finding her parents was next to impossible. She knew that the mother was more than likely dead, and they had no way of finding the father.

"Okay. Thank you." She got up to leave, but he stopped her.

"Delphinus."

"Excuse me?"

"She said 'Delphinus' before she left, she said 'Delphinus.'"

She thanked him and watched him leave. Looking back at her notes she knew that they were closer to finding out who that little girl belonged to.

_Delphinus…what a funny word._

If she only knew what that word meant, and how many lives it would save.

Delphinus…

**A/N: How did ya'll like this chapter? I tried not to make it too boring. I am thinking that in the next chapter or two someone is going to get their ** kicked. What are you thinking?**

**COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!!!!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Almost at the end…finally!!! **

**As always, I do not own Bones. ****L**

**3 days after birth**

He was becoming more and more restless. He wanted her to get better; needed her go get over having that thing.

She needed to become his. He needed to claim her as his. He needed to wipe away every memory of Booth in her mind.

He wanted them to get on with their lives **together.**

He had been watching her in her room, just like he had been the past three months. He didn't want to take his eyes off her. He couldn't get over the beauty that was in her face, especially when she slept.

But he could see that she wasn't healing as fast as she should have been. he could see that she was getting weaker instead of stronger.

Something was wrong, but even if he wanted to get her help he couldn't. if he did, they would take her away. He could not…would not…allow that to happen again.

_Just a couple more days, and she will be yours. She needs to finish getting rid of all the reminds of that thing. Once she is better, then she will be all yours._

He smiled at himself, counting down the days till she was his forever.

-------------

She didn't want to live anymore. She had done the one thing that she wanted to do. she had made sure that her baby, Booth's baby had survived.

She hoped that the mystery lady had gotten her far away from this nightmare. She didn't want her daughter to be around him, because she didn't know what he would do to her.

She wanted to believe that no human could hurt one as small as a baby, but knew from experience that anything was possible. She knew what humans were capable of. She knew if pushed too far, he could even kill her.

She didn't care, though. Her main reason for living was alive, so she was okay now. she had held on, because she wanted her daughter to live.

She never used to think like this.

She was a strong woman, in mind and in body. She could defend herself when physically attacked and when intellectually attacked. She knew that she could and would kill if needed.

She couldn't fight him anymore. She needed to, but she couldn't.

_Booth…find her._

----------

"_BREAKING NEWS: Infant handed over to county cop by unknown woman in Madison, Wisconsin. The search for the parents is on. Complete story at 11."_

Angela dropped the stack of plates she had been carrying and hollered out for her husband.

"Jack!! JACK!!!!! Where are you?" He came running into the kitchen.

"Ange! Whats wrong?" he knew something was really wrong. He hadn't seen her this upset since Dr B had gone missing.

"Call Booth. You need to call him. Now!"

She needed to breathe. She couldn't breathe. She didn't want to. She was afraid if she did they would find out that this wasn't connected to Bren at all.

--------------

He lost his breath.

"_BREAKING NEWS: Infant handed over to county cop by unknown woman in Madison, Wisconsin. The search for the parents is on. Complete story at 11."_

His phone rang and without checking the called id he grabbed it up.

"Booth…have you seen?!" Angela screeched in his ear.

"You don't think…" he tried to say before his call waiting kicked in. "Hold on Angela. It's my other line."

"Seeley did you see it?" it was Cam this time.

"Yes Cam, I saw it."

"Meeting. Now."

After setting up the meeting with Cam he went back to Angela.

"What the hell does this mean, Booth? Do you think it could be her?"

"I don't know. We are meeting at the lab in twenty minutes."

This was the first semi-break that they have had in weeks. He was hoping that this wasn't just another dead end. He couldn't take much more of them.

He didn't have the strength anymore. He needed to find her. Needed to find them.

Not wanting to waste time taking a shower and changing his clothes, he grabbed his keys and ran out of his apartment shooting prayers up to all the Saints that he could. He needed every Saint on his side today, because if he found them the person responsible would be paying with their life.

**A/N: I am sooo sorry for taking a while to post this up. I will post the next chapters up in the next few days...hopefully!!!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Here is the next chapter…hopefully everyone is still enjoying this story, it is almost finished. I think there are going to be only four or five more chapters…I think.**

**As always…I don't own Bones.**

**Still 3 days after birth**

How the hell was he going to tell Booth what he had found out? How could he give him this information, and not be scared of the man?

He had known Booth only through his daughter, but he knew what the man was capable of when pushed to the limit. He had done some checking on him, considering his only daughter trusted him with her life.

He knew how many 'kills' he had; how many injuries he had inflicted with his 'misses.' Seeley Booth would not hesitate when it came to protecting one of his own. He would not hesitate to kill those who had hurt his Tempe.

So how the hell was he going to take this news?

Max walked into the lab, knowing that would be the easiest place to find Booth. He still wasn't back working at FBI headquarters and that was okay with him. Many people still accused him of killing the old Assistant Deputy Director.

Seeing the group of people huddled together on the forensic platform he made his way there. After Hodgins swiped his pass to let him in, he walked right over to Booth and handed him the file that he was carrying.

"Max, what is this?"

"Information." He was waiting for the backlash as Booth read the papers inside.

"What the hell is this?!!"

"This is what I found out. I found out who took her, but not where she is."

Angela whispered "Who took her? Please…" she looked at Booth "who took her?"

Max looked at him and caught the look in his eyes. He shuddered when he saw they were no longer brown, but black. Dead black. He knew that look; he had had it many times in his life.

"Don't worry Angela. I will take care of it." Booth turned and looked at him, "We think we might have found the baby."

"Where?"

"Madison, Wisconsin. There was a baby handed over to one of the locals, but they have no idea who the parents are…" his phone interrupted him.

"Booth…"

Turning to Angela and the rest of them, Max could see that they were trying to come up with a plan of action. Should they all go out there, or should just one of them go? If so, who would be the one to go?

"Bye." Booth was back. "We're flying to Wisconsin on the next available flight." He said, informing the group of the decision he had made.

"When?"

Booth sighed, "Whenever we can get seats."

Hodgins looked at Angela who was looking at him with pleading in her eyes. When he nodded his head she took of towards her office being closely followed by Cam.

"She's calling one of the pilots that we employ to inform him that we a plane available ASAP."

Booth nodded but didn't say anything as he walked out of the lab. Max knew it was because he was still processing the information that he had just given him.

After getting an invite to travel with them, he left too but not without shooting a parting glance at the memorial that was situated against the far wall of the lab. He had been to see it many times, coming to tears more than once. He hoped his daughter would soon be able to see how her coworkers and others cared for her.

-----------

He knew something was wrong. He could see that something was wrong with her. But he didn't know what it was.

_Could it be that little brat that I had taken care of?_

He constantly thought about his actions before and after her giving birth to that little thing. He thought about the fact that he had gotten his friend to get rid of that baby.

Maybe if he had let her keep that thing, maybe she would be better off now.

_NO!!! If I had let her keep that thing then she wouldn't belong to me, she would still think she had a chance with Booth. _

He would not let her think that much longer. He **would** change her mind. She would learn soon that the only man she could come to rely on was him.

_As soon as she is better, then we can get away from here. Maybe we could go somewhere far away. Somewhere where no one knew about her…about her books._

-----------

She didn't know how much longer she would be able to go on. She knew that something was wrong, but she didn't know what.

Instead of getting stronger after giving birth she was getting weaker. She should have been up and walking by now, but her legs wouldn't support even her underweight frame.

She knew that her blood loss wasn't great during and after giving birth, and that it was okay to bleed some after giving birth but something was wrong. She could feel the constant oozing between her legs. She knew more about bones, but she knew that the body needed a certain amount of blood.

She needed to get out of here. She needed to get away from him, but knew that with her blood loss she would be at a disadvantage.

_Please, I hope my baby girl is okay. Please take care of her. I hope Booth is going to be able to find her. Please._

She didn't know who she was talking to in her mind, but hoped that Booth's faith would work for her. She was never one to believe in God, or whoever, but Booth was steadfast in his beliefs and she was steadfast in her belief that Booth would come rescue her.

She needed to keep a hold of that belief that he would come for her. If she let go of that, then she would be giving everything of herself over to the monster that had taken her from her life.

Her thoughts would often drift to her mother. If Booth was right, then there was a heaven and if there was a heaven then she would see her mother again. She hoped she would see her again, because there was so much that she wanted to tell her.

She wanted to let her know that she was a grandmother to a beautiful baby girl. She had to let her know that she had _finally_ found the love of her life, but she had never had the chance to tell him. She wanted to tell her that she had found her dad, and even though she didn't agree with his actions, he had taken care of the people responsible for her death.

Her father. Max Keenan. He hadn't been there for more than half of her life, but when he found out that someone was gunning for her he made reappearance in her life. As much as she wanted to move on from him, she could not deny him as her father…as her daughter's grandfather.

_Booth…you __**need**__ to find her. I didn't even have the chance to name her. Please find her._

----------------

Booth was staring out of the window of Hodgins' jet, thinking about everything that had taken place over the last six months. He knew that most of the anguish he was feeling, as well as the rest of Bones' family and friends, was his fault. If he hadn't been so mean and rough with her, maybe they wouldn't be where they were now.

He thought about the memorial in the lab, the one he had visited every day since Angela had brought the painting into the Jeffersonian. He imagined the different aspects to her painting, pausing on his favorite parts.

He had been so proud of her, not because she had been able to finally express herself, but because she had thought to bring it into the Jeffersonian for everyone. He knew that she had been unprepared for the response that it had brought, but she was happy that it was helping others as it did her.

Sighing and pulling himself back to what was going on around him, he looked around. He saw Zack having a heated discussion with Cam in the front seats. He caught some of what they were saying; something about bones being more important than the actual flesh.

He saw Hodgins sitting next to Angela, and it looked like he was whispering into her ear. Booth knew how Bones' disappearance had rocked her and greatly affected her. He found out before they boarded the plane that she had suffered a miscarriage two weeks ago. The doctors said that it due to stress and she would be able to conceive again.

Finally, he noticed Max sitting in the back of the plane, there but not really there. He knew the man was deeply worried about his daughter, especially given the information he had been able to gather regarding her kidnapper.

He had to give the man credit though. He had called in many favors to get the information that he did. Booth normally tried not to use the criminal underworld for help, but he was willing to overlook it.

Booth was still trying to come to gripes with what he read in that file. He could not, did not want to believe it. He knew that he would have to take care of the person, but that wasn't on his mind for now. All he wanted to think about was the little baby, all alone in that hospital in Wisconsin.

------------

"She is sleeping again. Poor baby, she must have known that she was taken from her mommy and daddy." A nurse said after placing a sleeping newborn back in her incubator in the NICU.

She saw that the little girl was very alert for being so young. Her big blue eyes seemed to catch everything that went on around her. Her dark brown hair curled every which way up-top her head, making it impossible for the nurses to find her cowlick.

The little girl, after being brought into the hospital had been given a full medical workup and was found to be in good condition. She was a little bit dehydrated, but that was quickly taken care of.

She had quickly worked her way into everyone's hearts, and they were all hoping that her parents would be found soon. They could not imagine what sort of person would take that precious girl away from her parents, but they all prayed that the unknown evil would be found soon.

**A/N: I don't know anything about the body and how much blood the body needs to survive. I also do not know anything about the inner workings of a hospital. If you find any mistakes in this story, let me know!!!!!!!**


	27. Chapter 27

**SO VERY SORRY FOR THE DELAY…life caught up with me, and I needed to take care of a few things. I got them taken care of, and now I am back to hopefully finish up this fanfic, plus the two others ones that I am working on right now.**

**I think there are only going to be about four more chapters, what do you think? I want to move on from this story. I have two others that I really need to finish up.**

**Again, I do not own Bones. So sad.**

**4 days after birth**

Booth was exhausted when they finally made it to their hotel the night before. He knew that for the next few days they weren't going to be getting any sleep, so they decided to leave everything for the next day.

He awoke the next morning filled with trepidation. He didn't know what they were going to find; Bones dead or alive. He prayed they would find her alive, but with the information he had been given yesterday he knew that the odds were against them.

Making his way to the lobby of the hotel he saw that Angela and Hodgins were already waiting for him. Angela spotted him first, and started his way.

"Booth, what's the plan?"

"First I am going to speak to the locals. Also, I am going by the regional FBI office. I don't want to step on any toes here. Then if I get the information I want, I am going to go to the hospital."

Hodgins frowned, "Why not the hospital first?"

"I don't want to ruffle any feathers, so no. as much as I want to; none of us are going by the hospital first."

After Max, Zack and Angela joined them, they made their way to see the local cops. On the way Booth looked at Max in the rearview mirror and was surprised to see him watching him.

"What are you going to do Booth?"

"Don't worry Max. I will take care of it."

-------------

_Don't worry Max. I will take care of it._

That was what he was worried about. He knew what Booth could do when push over the edge. Booth would protect what he considered his with his life.

When he talked to Firth before they left, he knew what he found out would push Booth over the edge. He knew that the moment he told booth what he knew, he would be out for blood.

Blood.

The blood of the person who would dare take his partner away from him. Take is unborn child away from him.

That person would not be able to get beyond his reach.

Max knew that even if they ran, Booth would follow them to the ends of the earth. **He** and he alone would bring down punishment on him. Booth would never allow that monster the chance to see the inside of a jail cell; he would take care of them himself.

As much as he wanted to stop him, he couldn't. He didn't want to…he couldn't. He knew what Booth was thinking, because he would do the same for his Ruthie. He would kill the one responsible for bringing harm to her.

He had already proved to his children and those trying to find him, that he was capable of anything. He showed everyone that you do not mess with Max Keenan's kids.

He was a murderer.

He was a killer.

He was a bank robber.

He was a con artist.

He was a teacher.

He did leave his kids.

He saw his wife die.

He was all of these things.

But most of all…he was a father.

He loved his kids more than anything. He understood what Booth was going to do, and he was okay with it.

He just prayed that Tempe would understand. He prayed that she was alive to see how much Booth cared for her. He wanted her to see what he would do **for her**.

-------------------

Angela was happy when they finally left the FBI office. She knew that it was something they had to do, but she just wanted it to be over with. She didn't want to get the same information over and over again.

_They knew that she had been missing for almost 4 months. They knew what the possibilities where of actually finding her alive. They knew that this baby might not be hers. _

She shook her head at the thoughts. Were these people actually stupid? Did they not know who they were dealing with? Between Cam, Zack and Hodgins they had more degrees than those combined in the regional FBI office.

She didn't care about numbers. She didn't care about anything except for Bren. She needed to find her best friend again.

Leaning into Hodgins as Booth drove them to the hospital, "We have to find her Jack. I can't loose her again."

"We will find her Ange."

"How can you be sure? We haven't found her yet. We are no closer now than we were before."

He nodded towards Booth and Max who seemed to be having a silent conversation with their eyes.

"They know something."

Angela looked back and forth between the two guys, trying to decipher what was going on between them

"How…how can you tell?"

"His eyes" Hodgins pointed at Booth. "You can see the anger and rage in his eyes. Max found something out and he told Booth."

Angela was shocked, but not too much. She knew that Max had connections to the criminal underworld, and knew that he was capable of getting information that they needed.

"I hope it was something good" but knew as the words came out of her mouth that it wasn't good. Seeing the rage that filled his eyes, she knew that there weren't going to be good times ahead.

------------

She was getting weaker by the day.

_Booth…you need to find me soon._

_You need to find our daughter._

_Please…protect her._

_Introduce her to Parker._

_Let her draw with Angela._

_Race beetles with Hodgins and Zack._

_Talk with Cam; she was the heart of the squints. (You were the heart of us)._

_Experiment with Max. Let them grow together…survive together._

She knew that she couldn't go on much longer. She needed to conserve her energy for her last hoorah.

-----------

_She is talking to herself again. Why can't she talk to me? What could she say to herself that she can't say to me?_

He was watching her again. He couldn't hear anything coming from her room, but he saw her lips moving.

When was she going to realize that they were going to be together for the rest of their lives? When was she going to see that he was all she was going to need?

He wanted to know why she still insisted on staying quite. He wanted to know what was going on in her mind.

Was she thinking about the baby that was gone forever? Maybe she was thinking about the guy that corrupted her body. Maybe she was thinking about the friends that were forever gone from her.

He continually told himself that he would be enough for her. He would be her best friend. He would be her confidant. He would be the father of her children. He would be the one she turned to for comfort.

_I will be enough for her to forget…forget everything. _

_Once we are gone from this place, its memories, we will be together eternally._

**A/N: Sorry if this chapter didn't live up to expectations, but I am trying so very hard to get this written. I hope, however, that everyone liked and enjoyed it.**

**Let me know what you think of it, and tell me how they should find Brennan. I think the best idea (to me) is going to be the one I use. I want input on the final chapters.**

**THANX**


	28. Chapter 28

**SO…DON'T BE MAD AT ME FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE THIS STORY. I AM VERY SORRY…MY MIND JUST DIDN'T WANT TO WORK.**

**I couldn't come up with anything for the rest of the story…I mean, I couldn't get it written down on paper (computer)…it was floating around in my mind, but I just couldn't get it down in words.**

**I hope you like this chapter…as always, I do not own Bones. So sad.**

**4 days after birth**

When they arrived at the hospital their nerves were all stretched beyond repair. As they walked through the front doors of the hospital the gentleman that was waiting for them took in each one of them, and he hoped that he wasn't the point of their anger and frustrations.

The tall one in the suit had eyes that were housing thunderstorms, and they threatened to break loose at any moment.

The pretty brown haired one looked like she was about to get hysterical with the next person that asked her if she was fine.

The short one with the curly hair and beard had his cell phone out and he looked like he was ready to call in reinforcements if needed.

The younger guy looked like he was muttering unknown things under his breathe.

The other beautiful looked like she was in control of herself, but he knew that she was liable to explode at any moment.

The older gentleman had a look in his eyes that could only be described as someone looking for death.

He needed to pull in his emotions before addressing this group. After talking to the local FBI office he knew that the people standing in front of him were not going to be in the mood for any bullshit.

Reaching out to shake the 'suits' hand, he started by saying "My name is Dr. Benjamin Stein. I am the chief administrator of this hospital and as of this moment anything that you might need will be made available to you."

"Special Agent Seeley Booth." He flashed something that looked like a badge, but it was flashed too quickly as he continued with introductions. "Mrs. Angela Montenegro-Hodgins. Dr. Jack Hodgins. Dr. Zack Addy. Dr. Camille Saroyan. Max Keenan." He pointed out each person as he said their name.

"I have been informed by the local police that you might have information regarding a patient currently in my hospital."

He knew that they were here to see about the baby that had been handed over two days ago, but he wasn't certain that they would able to identify the mother of the child. The hospital and police had been inundated with calls from people all over Wisconsin claiming the baby as their own.

Every person that called thought that they would be able to prove that the child belonged to them, but when asked about a 'password' they all grew quite. Only a handful of people actually knew about the word that had been given to the cop, and the hospital and locals wanted to keep it that way for now.

"Dr. Stein" Angela (I think) started "please…we have been through enough in the past three months. Please…"

She didn't finish before she broke down. Her husband rushed forward to grab her as she began to fall towards the floor. He spoke a few hushed words to her, and in the next minute she regained her composure but didn't speak again.

"Please, let's take this upstairs. I will answer any questions I am able to."

As the group followed him into the elevator he saw how the men had put the two women in the middle of them, as if to protect them. He watched them out of the corner of his eyes, and saw how each one unintentionally supported the others.

He prayed that he would be able to give them good news. He didn't want to say they had traveled all this way for nothing, but seeing the older man in the group glaring at him made him hope and pray that this was the family they were looking for.

When they reached the Labor and Maternity floor, he led them into a room and motioned for them to take a seat before shutting the door behind them.

-------------------

Booth didn't know if it was a good thing that they were led into this room. He just wanted his questions answered, his fears confirmed. He needed to know if this was Bones' baby or not.

_Please…let this be her baby…we need this to be hers. I don't know how much more we are going to be able to handle before one or more of us breaks down. Please God, please protect her…wherever she is, I just need her to be safe._

"Dr. Stein, can you please just tell us if this baby is the one we are looking for." Booth said this as he leaned back in his chair, praying that they weren't being led on yet another wild goose chase.

Looking at all of those gathered, Dr. Stein said "We do not know if this is Dr. Brennan's baby. We will anything and everything to answer your and our questions."

_How could we come this far and still not know if this was her baby or not? _

Booth didn't know how much more of this he could take. He wanted to find her but knew that when he did he would revert back to his old ways. She had helped him change from an angry man ready to punish those who crossed him to a man who brushed off things. He knew, however that when he found her captor he would be pushed back into his old self.

He didn't want to fail her, but he would not let that monster get away with what they had done. He could not let them get away with causing Bones pain. He would do what was needed to take care of them.

God help them if she was dead, because he knew that nothing would control him then. Nothing and no one would bring him back from the place he would be pushed then.

He couldn't survive without her.

He needed her to save his soul again.

He needed her just so he could breathe.

She was the reason he kept walking the earth.

She was the one who could control him, even in his darkest hours.

She was the one who he loved with every fiber of his being.

He needed her to be alive, or he would be lost forever.

_Protect her, wherever she is…_he prayed as he rubbed the St. Christopher medal that hung around his neck…_keep her safe, watch over her. Please, place your guarding hand over her to keep her from harm. As much as I want her to be safe, I __**need**__ her to be safe more. __**You **__know that I need her; she is what keeps my heart beating_

"Booth…" He didn't realize that they had been talking around him until Angela spoke to him.

"What? Oh, sorry. You were saying..."

"We do not want to cause anyone any unnecessary harm or anguish, so there are some questions that we need to be answered before we consider allowing anyone to see the baby." As Dr. Stein said this, Booth could see the embarrassment cross over the doctor's face.

"Completely understand Dr. Stein. We understand that there are protocols that need to be followed and we will follow whatever ones you put in front of us." He looked around to see the others nodding at his statement. "Please, lets just get started because the longer we sit here the longer it is until we find Bones…Dr. Brennan."

-------------

"_Please, lets just get started because the longer we sit here the longer it is until we find Bones…Dr. Brennan."_

Angela's heart almost broke again when she heard Booth say that. She knew that he still felt like it was his fault that Brennan was missing. No matter what anyone had said to him they couldn't take away that feeling of wondering if it might be his fault.

"Okay. Can anyone tell us the colors of the parent's eyes?" Angela and everyone else, she noticed, quickly looked towards Booth.

"Her eyes are blue and mine are brown." She saw the shocked look on Dr. Stein's face when Booth revealed this bit of information.

"Alright. Hair color?"

"Brown. Best way to describe it. They both have brown hair, hers is lighter and as you can tell his is darker." she answered for Booth.

Angela could tell that even after the first couple questions he was starting to get distressed and she wanted to help him any way she could. They didn't need for Booth to be pushed any further than he already was.

She had watched him over the past couple months, even before Brennan went missing and saw how the lapse in their friendship had affected him. He wasn't the happy-go-lucky agent that he once was, spending more and more time in Brennan's office and less time out in the field.

After asking a couple more questions Dr. Stein took a deep breathe, "I have one more thing to ask, and please don't be upset or offended if you do not know the answer to the question." he looked around to see them nod their heads before speaking again. "We were given a word when the baby was handed over. We can only surmise as to what the word means, but we think it was of importance to the mother of this child. After doing some research we found out what the word meant and came to the conclusion that only those close to her would be able to recognize this as her."

"Dr. Stein," Max said gruffly "please, just ask us what you need to ask us. I want to find my daughter and I do not have all day."

Angela watched Max, and knew that he was starting to get upset and she was happy that he was sitting next to Booth, because at this point he was the only one who control Max. She knew that like Booth, any little thing would set him off at this point. The last thing any of them needed was a vengeful Max Keenan.

"What was her favorite constellation?"

"Delphinus." Booth and Max answered at the same time.

"Thank God." Dr. Stein stood up quickly and left the room, leaving them to wonder what they had said.

* * *

_Please…don't forget about me Booth. I hope that you have found our daughter. I need you to find her. I do not want her to be alone in this world. She needs to be with you and Parker._

_She needs to know her family…your family…my family._

_She needs to know that she is loved…that I fought for her…that I did everything I could to make sure __**she**__ survived, because she is my reason for living this long._

_You always told me that I was strong…we are strong…we are the center. We have to hold…the center has to hold...but I can't much longer._

_You and her… you and our daughter are the center. You will hold everyone together…you need to make sure that no one falls. _

_She will hold everyone together. _

She knew that she was going to lose the battle that she was fighting. Even with her vast knowledge of the human body, she could do nothing to stop the slow flow of blood that was still trickling out of her. Everything she had done hadn't helped, and she had finally come to the conclusion that she would not make it out of her own, personal hell.

She had come to grips with the fact that she would never see her friends again. Weeks ago she had lost their faces in her mind. She couldn't bring herself to remember what they looked like or what their voices sounded like. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't bring a memory of them into her mind.

She was upset that she had ignored her brother for so long, and that it had taken her so long to reconcile with her father. Now she was going too lost from them forever. She would never get the chance to tell her father that she loved him and that she **actually** forgave him for leaving her. Russ would never know that she understood why he left her. He would never know how much she loved him.

She would never be okay though, with having to leave Booth and their daughter. She hoped and prayed –for Booth she would do anything – that they would find one another. She needed them to be together, because she knew he would need her to make his life worthwhile.

Leaving her mind and returning to the room she kept thinking about what she needed to do. She knew that she would have one chance and she anticipated the fact that he would not be expecting an attack from her, especially in her present condition.

----------------

She wasn't getting any better and he only had himself to blame. It was his fault that she was in the condition she was in, and he needed to do something about it. He had to take care of her…she was his life and he couldn't lose her.

What could he do though? He couldn't take her to a hospital and he couldn't bring someone else in to look at her. The last time he did she ended up betraying him, but he had taken care of that problem.

_Why can't she help herself? She should know what to do to help herself._

_Maybe she isn't doing anything because she knows something. But, how could she know anything? She hasn't talked to anyone in almost three months._

_Why isn't she getting better? I can't take us away from this place till she is better. I need her to get better._

_I do not need this constant reminder of that thing that was in her. I thought that once I got rid of it everything would be better, but everything is worse now._

He knew that the only way to help her was to go get stuff for her. Maybe if he asked someone in town they could tell him what to do for her. He needed her to be better.

He had been watching her again…needing to make sure that she was okay. That she was alive. He had taken to coming into her room while she slept, just to make sure she was breathing.

Without another glance into her room he set off towards the closest town in search of the pharmacy. He knew that even though he didn't know much about what she might need he could always ask for help.

_Could she escape while I am away? NO! She wouldn't try…she couldn't even if she wanted to. _

_Where would she go? She doesn't know where she is, and it wouldn't take much to track her down in her condition._

_What if something happens to her while I am gone? What if she dies and I am not there to hold her…to say goodbye?_

After thinking that she might die he looked around and realized that he was parked in front of the pharmacy. Trying to calm himself down he got out of his truck and walked into the store and grabbed a basket.

Walking down each aisle he grabbed what he thought she might need to help herself. As he was standing in front of the gauze he had this feeling like he was being watched so he looked up. Not seeing anyone he went back to looking at his choices. Before he could make a choice he had that feeling again.

He knew that someone was watching him, and he needed to get away. He didn't need to bring any attention to himself. He had to get out of there. He needed to back to Tempe.

He turned quickly and rushed back up to the register to pay for his stuff. He felt it. He knew he was being watched and turned around again. But again, there wasn't anyone looking at him.

So focused, he was, that he never noticed the cop car parked next to his truck as he climbed into it. He didn't see the cop watching him as he backed up. He didn't notice the cop pulling in behind him on the road either.

_Someone was watching me. But no one was there. _

_How could they watch me and I not be able to find them?_

_Why could I not see them?_

_We need to get away from here…everything will be fine when we leave from here._

As he pulled onto the drive he still hadn't seen the car that had been following him for the past fifteen minutes. He didn't see the car pull to the side of the road and park. As he climbed out of his truck he failed to see the person watching him out of a pair of binoculars.

_We need to leave. Just get away. Maybe tonight._

So lost he was in his mind he failed to see the person standing in the corner of the living room. He had been so unfocused when he left he had forgotten to lock the door to her room. He still hadn't noticed her, until she made a move.

_Pop-Pop-Pop_

------------------

Deputy Stephen Finley had been making his normal rounds when he received a call from the local pharmacist informing him that there was a man in his pharmacy acting strange.

_He keeps talking to himself and looking around like he thinks someone is watching him. _

_He is buying an awful lot of medical supplies…gauze, surgical tape, band-aids, medicine, alcohol._

_No, I have never seen him before, but he is sure acting weird. _

It wasn't normal for Deputy Finley to receive a call regarding an unknown man in this town so he decided to make a trip over to the pharmacy. He hadn't been there for more than a minute before the man came out of the store.

He knew it was him in the way he was acting and not noticing what was going on around him. He didn't seem perturbed by the fact that there was a cop car parked next to his truck. As he drove away Deputy Finley made the biggest decision of his career as he decided to follow this unknown man.

After arriving at the man's house he parked on the street, with his car partially blocked by some bushes. He pulled his binoculars out and watched as the man climbed out of the truck with his purchases and walked into in house.

He hadn't been in there for a minute before a very distinctive noise entered the Deputy's ears.

_Pop-Pop-Pop_

**A/N: What is going to happen to them?? Who shot the gun?? When do they get to meet the baby??**

**Comments please…I will put up more chapters even if I don't get the comments that I would like.**

**THANX**


	29. Chapter 29

**Here we are again…the next chapter. Hopefully there will only be four or five more chapters after this one.**

**As always…I do not own Bones or any of the characters. Sad.**

**4 days after birth…still**

_Pop-Pop-Pop_

Silence.

Quietness.

Noise-less.

Void of anything.

Silence.

That is what Deputy Finley as he quietly stole down the driveway towards the house that he had been watching.

He hadn't lost sight of the suspect for more than a minute before he heard the distinct sounds of a handgun being fired. He wouldn't remember the seconds following, but it would later be known that he quickly called in over the radio for backup.

Without making a sound he crept beside the abandoned truck in the driveway. Not wanting to wait for backup he slowly made his way onto the front porch; praying, hoping that who ever fired that weapon wasn't looking in his direction.

_Pop_

He heard it go off.

He smelt the gunpowder.

He saw the flash of it.

He felt the pain in his upper abdomen.

That was when he remembered. He made a rookie mistake.

It wasn't waiting for backup.

He forgot to put on his bulletproof vest.

* * *

_Pop-Pop-Pop_

She hoped that she hit him, but she didn't know.

She knew that when he entered the house she would only have a few seconds before he noticed her standing in the corner. She knew that in those seconds she was going to have to aim and fire before he could do the same to her.

Would she be able to do it? Did she have the strength to hold the gun without dropping it?

When she had begun planning attacking him she thought that it was going to take place in her room. She was slowly cataloguing the items in her room, trying to figure out which one would cause the most damage. She needed something that would hurt him, disable him, but not kill him.

She failed to think about the fact that he was slowly leaving reality. Obviously, he must have been a little crazy to think he could get away with his crimes, but something else was happening in his mind. He was becoming careless; leaving the door opened when he brought her extra clothes and food…leaving the door unlocked after he left.

When she tried the doorknob and found it unlocked she was prepared to fight for her life. She expected him to be standing there, waiting for her. But what she found was a shock to her.

The house was empty.

The idiot had left the door to her room unlocked. The idiot had left the house and she was able to escape. But he had also done something that even she couldn't believe.

When she saw it there in the kitchen she knew that she would have to take the best shots of her life. She was going to have to take him out quick…much like Booth had done in the firing range.

After getting off the three rounds she felt herself slipping to the ground. She had expelled too much energy carrying out this mission of mercy for herself.

_Did I get him? Am I safe now?_

* * *

All he felt was pain ripping through his right leg. It felt like someone had stuck a red-hot poker against his leg, and they were keeping it there.

_What the hell happened? _

He couldn't figure out what happened to him. He needed to go over the facts in his head. He needed to wrap his mind around what was happening. He needed to find out where he went wrong.

He was scared that Tempe was going to die.

He knew that he left the house to get supplies for Tempe.

He went into town for the supplies.

He felt strange at the pharmacy.

……..

_Damn it!!!_

He didn't lock her door.

He left his gun in the kitchen.

He didn't hear the pharmacist making a phone call.

He missed the car that followed him home.

_Damn it!!!_

……

He had been shot by his own gun, by the woman who loved him. The woman who he loved more than life itself.

He couldn't believe that she actually shot him. She had gotten out of her room and shot him.

He had left her to go get supplies to take care of her. To help her. He needed to make sure that she was okay, so he risked his own safety to get her stuff that he thought she needed.

That is how she repaid him?!

She shot him!

She used his own gun…against him!!

She shot him in his damn leg.

Breathing through the pain he started to sit up, needing to see where she was. Then he spotted something moving out of the corner of his eye. Turning his gun in the direction of the movement he got off one round and took the 'thing' out.

When he zeroed in on what exactly he shot, he was stunned to see a dead Deputy sprawled out on the front porch. He could see where the bullet entered the man's chest, dead center.

_Damn it. What the hell am I going to do now?_

He began looking for Tempe again. When he spotted her, he felt the air slip out of his lungs. She was sprawled out on the carpet in the living room, the gun still clutched in her hand. But…she wasn't moving.

_Why wasn't she moving? I didn't hit her when I fired back, did I? _

_No, I couldn't have. I wasn't aiming in her direction._

Moving to get a better look at her he saw that dark blood was slowly starting to pool near her legs. It wasn't coming from a wound that was visible, he saw that much. So, where was the blood coming from?

What was wrong with her?

-------------------

Seeley and the rest of the 'squint' squad were getting restless. They had been waiting for Dr. Stein to return for the past fifteen minutes. No one had been in to tell them where he had disappeared to either.

He could see that Angela was getting more and more agitated by the minute, and it was all Hodgins could do to keep her from running out the door to find someone to talk to. Zack, Cam and Max were in the same boat as Angela, but they kept their emotions in check…almost.

Zack was going over the periodic table under his breathe.

Cam was pacing up and down the length of the room.

Max, Booth noted, was fidgeting and getting more impatient by each passing minute.

Just as Booth was getting up to ask someone what was going on, the door opened. In stepped Dr. Stein. He was followed by a young nurse, and two older nurses. What everyone failed to see was the bassinet behind the younger nurse.

"Special Agent Booth…" he and the younger nurse stepped out of the way to reveal the bassinette "I think we have found yours and Dr. Temperance Brennan's daughter."

"I…what…huh?"

At one of the most important times in his life, Booth was rendered speechless. He moved forward to get a better look at the little girl. When he did he was shocked to see bright, emerald eyes staring back at him.

"Booth...she looks exactly like Brennan." Leave it to Angela to state the oblivious. "Expect for the eyes. She has your eyes."

Dr. Stein stepped forward and turned his hand towards the younger nurse with him. "This is Nurse Cheyenne Stone. She was the nurse to receive her in the emergency room from the local cop dropped her off."

Angela, being the most emotional of the bunch, ran up to Cheyenne and threw her arms around the nurse. Booth could see that everything she had been holding inside, the tears she hadn't cried (even though she had shed some), came pouring out all at once.

One of the older nurses reached into the bassinet and gently picked up the pink bundle. Being startled when she was picked up, she started crying. The nurse walked over to Booth and handed him his daughter.

Drawing her into his chest, he started humming to her in an attempt to get her to quite down. Slowly her wails turned into whimpers, and then the tears were completely gone as she nestled her head in Booths chest.

_I found you, little girl. Now all I need to do is find your mommy. I will bring her back to you, one way or another you will have her. I will not let her leave you without a mommy._

* * *

Angela stood next to Booth, watching him sooth his daughter. She began to wonder if they would ever find Brennan. They had nothing to go on. No evidence. Nothing.

Then something hit her. Maybe the hospital still had the clothes she was brought in. maybe there was something on it. Maybe Hodgins could find something on it that would show them where she might be.

"Dr. Stein" looking towards Hodgins "does the hospital still possess the clothing that she was wearing when she was dropped off?"

She could see recognition beginning to dawn on Hodgins face. He was starting to get excited, she could tell even if no one else could see it. She knew he was running through the tests he could perform here; which ones were the fastest, which ones were the least invasive, which ones might actually work, which ones he could do here.

"Yes, I think we still have her things. They would have been bagged when she was first brought in. why, may I ask, do you need them?"

Hodgins cut in "because if there is anything on them, I can find out where she has been. If I can figure that out, then maybe I can find Dr. Brennan."

She saw him turn towards one of the nurses that accompanied him into the room. He nodded his head to her. She turned and suddenly left the room, only to return a minute later carrying a plastic bag.

Angela prayed that Hodgins would find something. She needed him to find something. She needed her best friend back. This little girl needed her mommy back. But most of all, Booth needed her back. She knew that he was okay for now, but at some point it would start to set in.

She knew Booth, and even though she didn't know his entire past she knew what he was capable of. She knew that after having his daughter shown to him, the blissful feelings would soon disappear. Soon the anger would set in, and he would be uncontrollable.

Brennan was the only one who would have been able to bring him past that point. She was the only one who could reach him when he was in his assassin mode, and if she was lost to them forever then so was Booth.

* * *

Hodgins was excited. He didn't even think to ask about the clothing that the baby was wearing. He was too focused on the reunion between Booth and the little girl, so when Angela asked for the clothing he was shocked.

_Why didn't I think of that? I should have thought about her clothing or any blankets that she had when she was brought in. how could that have slipped my mind? Maybe that's why Ange and I are so good together…she remembers things that I wouldn't._

When the nurse returned she handed the bag to him, and he could see that there was a blanket and a little sleeper in it. He knew that he wouldn't be able to every test that he would normally do, but he was capable of performing some. Thinking back to when he and Dr. B had been kidnapped by the Gravedigger, and being able to pull thin air out of thin air.

He had to find something. He would not leave her alone, where ever she was. They would find her. He would not let her little girl grow up without her mommy.

Moving towards the table, he laid the bag on it. Carefully opening it he took a deep breathe; wanting to catalogue the subtle smells the came out of the bag. _Trees…what type? Animals…what type??? _He quickly noticed something else.

"There is no dirt on the clothing." Booth looked at him with a tilted head. "Nothing. At all. All I can get is the smells off the blanket. Everything is new, never been washed. It's like she wasn't even taken outside, except for when they brought her here."

"Can you get anything, Dr. Hodgins?" Cam…wait, she was here too. How had he forgotten that she was here too?

"I can tell you what she might be near, but nothing else."

"Hodgins" Booth spoke for the first time in five minutes "what does that mean?"

"I think it means that whoever took Dr B knew what they were doing. They didn't want anything traced back." He was back to looking at the blanket. "Even if she wasn't found alive, the baby that is, we still wouldn't be able to track her."

"_What!!??!!!_"

He looked up at Cam, Ange, Booth and Zack at their shocked voices. The four of them were surprised at his admission. They had never known him to say there was no particulate evidence on something, knowing he could find even the smallest piece of evidence.

"I can't pinpoint where she is, but I can give you a round-about location. Give me a couple minutes and a map of the state, and I will tell you where she might be."

------------------

_Back at the Jeffersonian, Washington D.C._

The guard placed near the painting was, again, staring at its beauty. Taking in each and every aspect of it, he didn't want to miss even the smallest design. He knew that this piece of artwork would forever be etched into the minds of everyone who visit it.

_The Mona Lisa_

_The Crucifixion_

_The Last Supper_

_The Parthenon_

_The Sistine Chapel_

It would never get the acclaim of these pieces; never get the amount of press either. But for those who visited it and were able to take in its beauty, they would forever remember it.

He knew that it was a labor of love for the one who had created it. She had given the people who worked with or knew Dr. Brennan a place to come and pray for her. Even though she didn't believe in that sort of thing, her coworkers did and that was what really mattered.

They were praying for her safe return. Praying for her daughter to be found, unharmed. Praying that whoever took them would be found by someone other than Special Agent Booth. Praying for his soul if he were the one to find them too.

**A/N: What do you think of this chapter?? Is it too…I don't know…but it seems like something is lacking. It seems like there is too much going on in it, but I needed to get it out anyways!!!**

**Tell me what you think!!! Good or bad, I wanna know!!!**

**Thanx**


	30. Chapter 30

**What did you think of Chapter 29?? Hopefully everyone liked it, and commented on it. Booth has been introduced to his daughter and Hodgins has the clothing that she was wearing…now all they have to do is find Bones. Do you think that will happen any time soon??**

**As always, I do not own Bones or any of the characters from the show!!! Sad.**

**Still 4 days after the birth….sorry!!**

As Booth was getting acquainted with his daughter a security guard came running into the room. He went right up to Dr. Stein and began whispering to him very quickly. What he said made Dr. Stein look quickly to Booth, who in turn handed the baby over to Angela.

The doctor nodded at the guard who began speaking "Agent Booth, there is a situation. We think it might be connected to your missing woman." Booth was shocked into not speaking, so the guard continued. "A local Deputy was called out to a pharmacy earlier today because of a suspicious person. He followed said person to a house, and at that location he heard a gun go off. After calling for backup he exited his car. From what we are hearing from the guys on the scene, he was shot and subsequently died from his injuries."

"What does this…"

"Like I said sir, we think it might have to do with your missing Dr. Brennan. The person or persons are still in the house, and they are refusing to make contact with the personnel that are out there right now."

Booth wondered if it might be possible that this could be Bones. Was he this close to finding her…finding the missing half to his soul?

"Wait…" Hodgins shouted out "is this house near a pig farm?"

The guard looked at him like he was crazy, "Yeah. What does that mean?"

"Booth!! This is what I smell on the blanket. The smell of the excrement…I can faintly smell it on her blanket." Hodgins was getting excited. "It has to be her. Are there any more farms like this anywhere nearby?

"Not for another 200 miles. This house is located near a farm that is a couple thousand acres, and it mostly houses pigs but also has other farm animals."

"Hodgins…are you sure this is Bones? I do not want to go charging in with the Calvary if this isn't her. I want you to be absolutely sure this is her. Can you tell me that without a doubt you think this is her?"

Booth wanted to be happy that they might have found her, but he knew that the possibility of it being her was slim. Even if the kidnapper was getting sloppy and his or her nerves were getting to him or her, he knew that this could be something else completely. He also knew that if they went in there and it wasn't her, they could be condemning her to death.

He knew that the kidnapper probably didn't know that the baby was still alive. They probably thought that the baby had been killed or something, and if it was found out that they were nearby or even looking Bones might end up dead. That is, if she wasn't dead already.

"Booth, I am almost a hundred percent sure that this is her. I cannot explain it, but even without looking at this evidence I would still think it's her. It is too much of a coincidence that this baby shows up, and then there is a crazy type person at a pharmacy. Then, on top of that the cop that shows up to check it out ends up dead. I am thinking that this is all connected…like a conspiracy or something. It is just too weird not to be connected."

"Okay Jack…we get it." Angela whispered before Booth could start.

* * *

They were almost there. He could see the police cars dotting the highway up ahead of them, and he began praying again.

_Please protect her. Protect those that are going in there. Protect the person who caused all of this, especially from me. I know what I might do if against all of my beliefs, killing for my own good, but I cannot allow this person – animal – to survive if she doesn't. Even if she does, I cannot allow this person the chance to do this again._

Climbing out of the car he and Max were in, both of them were quickly taken to the man in charge. Booth looked him over, taking in his physique and his manner of dealing with the situation.

Booth could see that he was completely in control, even though they already had a dead Deputy and a crazy suspect. He could also see the Max was as apprehensive as he was, but Booth was more in control of his feelings.

"Special Agent Seeley Booth. Max Keenan." He pointed to himself, then to Max.

"Sheriff Robert Forrest."

"What's going on?" Booth asked.

"We have the house surrounded at this time and we are still attempting to make a connection with those person or persons inside. We do not know how many people are alive at this time. We know that there is at least one body in the house because of the gunshot that was heard, but we have no way of knowing if it was the suspect who fired the shot or if there was another person in the house at the time. We do know that whoever fired the shot was alive at one point, because they were able to take out the Deputy that was trying to ascertain what was going on inside the house. We haven't been able to retrieve his body, though. Unfortunately it is still located on the porch of the house."

Taking in all of this information, Booth knew that they were not going to be talking to whoever was in this house. He knew that they were trained for any situation, no matter how extreme. How the hell were they going to get into that house without being noticed?

He looked over at Max, and knew that his expression mirrored the one on his own face. Max knew what they were up against, and knew that it would be a miracle if his daughter made it out of that house alive.

"What do we know? Do we have a floor plan for the house?"

"We know what you know. Nothing more, nothing less. We are in the process of having the prints for the house brought over right now. When we know more I will let you know Agent Booth."

"Booth."

"Forrest."

The men nodded at each other with respect. They both knew that if they wanted to get through this with the least amount of causalities they were going to have to work together.

------------------

She hadn't moved since she fainted, and he was starting to get worried. Without moving her he checked her to see if she had been hit by any bullets and had seen that wasn't the cause for the blood. Then he spotted where the blood was coming from, and his heart dropped.

The blood, darker than he had ever seen it before, was coming from between her legs. He knew in that moment, that he was going to lose her. He had no way of stopping the bleeding; no way of saving the one he loved.

_How did I let this happen? How did I not see that she hadn't stopped bleeding? Why did I let her have that thing? If I had just gotten rid of it in the beginning we wouldn't be here now. My Tempe wouldn't be lying on the floor, bleeding to death because of the birth of that thing. That thing that she tried so desperately to save. The thing that I got rid of in the end anyways. _

_Maybe if I get her away from here, from the memories she will get better. Maybe I can save her if I can take her away from here. We don't need to be here. We need to get away._

_We have to get away from here. I need to get away._

_What the hell is going on outside?_

_What have I done?_

_Why didn't we just leave when we had the chance?_

------------------

Taking in each and every thing Booth had taught her over the past five years, she quietly laid there. Remembering when he taught her about sleeping, but not really, she didn't make a move.

Slowly, she slid open her eyelids, needing to take in the scene around her. She saw her kidnapper crouched down in the corner looking out the curtains. She felt the warmth of the blood pooled between her legs, and she smiled to herself.

_It worked…it actually worked. I never thought that he would fall for it, but he did._

She could feel the baggies in the small of her back, and prayed that he wasn't able to see them. The baggies she had been using for the past day and a half to catch the blood that was slowly dripping out of her.

She knew that if she could make it seem like she was dying, he would have no other choice than to save her. He would save her, not for herself but for him. He would do it for him.

_How the hell could I get away with something like that? Was he so far gone that he couldn't tell the difference between fresh blood and old blood?_

Whatever was keeping him from seeing the differences, she didn't care. All she cared about now was getting out of that house. She had made it out of her room, now all she needed to do was get out the front door.

Brennan didn't know how she was going to do that. If she even made the smallest movement he would see that she was alive. He would soon find out about the cause of her 'bleeding' and she didn't want to think about the consequences of that.

_Booth…please, don't ever forget about me. Let her live. Let her grow. Let her be the woman she wants to be. Please, don't hold her back from anything. _

_I want you to teach our daughter…everything. Teach her to love. Teach her to trust. Teach her to be the person she wants to be. Teach her to trust in herself. To trust her 'gut' and her 'heart.'_

_If I would have trusted my heart earlier then we would have been together before now. We would have forever; instead it looks like we won't. If I wouldn't have been so scared of my feelings then maybe I could have told you how I really felt…but I didn't._

_Protect her. For me._

----------------

He and her mother had left her when she was fifteen. Left her alone, except for her older brother. Left her to fend for herself in this cold, cruel world.

He loved her more than life itself. Loved her more than all the money he had stolen. Loved her more than his freedom. Loved her with every ounce of his soul.

He would not let her die tonight. He would not let her daughter grow up without a mother, like he did to her. He would make sure that she had it home to her family, even if it meant he would leave his.

He knew what Booth was capable of, and was pretty sure that Booth knew the same about him. They both knew they would kill for that baby lying motherless, at this moment, in the hospital they had just left. They would both kill for the woman in the house.

They had both done it before, and they would both do it again.

_Deputy Director Kirby_

_Howard Epps_

Countless other names, unknown to anyone else in the world other than themselves. They would do anything in their power to protect the woman they both loved. Loved in different ways, but neither was less powerful than the other.

He had left her to protect her from those who hunted him. There was love in doing that, and even knowing how everything turned out, he would do it again in a heartbeat. He loved his daughter; especially the strong, intelligent woman she had grown in to.

He knew that Booth was the same way. He jumped in front of her and took a bullet for her. He didn't do it just because she was his partner, but because he couldn't and wouldn't face this world without her. Booth had tamed his daughter; taught her to love and how to accept love from others.

Together, they would save the woman they both needed. Because, if she were to fall tonight, there would be no stopping the reign of terror that both him and Booth might unleash on those that might have been connected to her kidnapper.

**A/N: I know this chapter wasn't as long as the other chapters, but I did this for a reason. Hope everyone liked this chapter. Let me know.**

**Thanx**


	31. Chapter 31

**I am thinking that there might be three more chapters after this one. If there are more, do not blame me. I cannot help it if my mind gets the better of me. I am trying to make a good story, and I hope I do not drag it out too long and make it boring after all. Let me know.**

**As always…I do not own Bones or any characters. Sad.**

**5 days after birth**

It was hours later, in the dead of night, and they still hadn't been able to talk to the person in the house. They knew he or she was alive, but that was it. They didn't know any more than that, and that in itself was discouraging.

Booth was slowly regressing back into his old mode. His killing mode. The mode that had ruled his life the entire time he was in the army. The entire time he was a sniper too.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and knew in an instant it was Max. Only he would dare to interrupt him tonight. All the law enforcement officials had given him a wide berth, seeing that even the smallest thing would set him off.

"Max…what am I going to do if I lose her?" saying the one thing that he hadn't wanted to say.

"We will not lose her tonight." He made it seem so easy. "We will get her back. We will. Nothing is going take her away. We have to believe that she is going to be okay."

"Believe?! In what?"

"Your faith, Booth. You know she doesn't believe, or she didn't before now, but your faith has gotten you this far, let it carry you the rest of the way. It will not fail you."

Booth nodded and turned his face back towards the house they had all been watching for the past ten hours. Turning Max's words over in his mind, he knew the man was right. He knew that he would have to hold strong to his faith to make it through all of this.

_Protect us, all of us, tonight as we fight for the lives of those inside this house. We need the comfort that you provide every single second of the day, we need it to be washed upon us as we move forward with our plans. Please have your guardians there, watching over the innocent and protecting the weak. Have them there, please, to walk with those who might not make it through tonight. Do not let them make that final walk without the presence of angels with them._

After making the sign of the cross on his chest, he turned his attentions back to the occupants of the house. He knew then what he would have to do. There was only going to be one way to get into that house, and he was the only one qualified enough to accomplish it.

Turning around, his eyes searched through the crowd until they landed on the man they were looking for. Max looked at him, and they shared a silent conversation that ended with Max nodding his head.

_He understands._

Booth was content, knowing that Max accepted his decision. He wasn't going to try to talk him out of it, or make him feel bad about making this choice. He probably knew that this was the only way to get her out of there, alive or not.

Walking back towards the vehicle he arrived in, he opened the trunk and began sorting through his bag. He needed to get into the correct mode, the correct clothing, because if he wasn't then the entire thing would blow up in his face.

"Booth" Forrest had come up behind him "just what do you think you are doing?"

"I am going into that house." he said pointing towards the house in question.

"I cannot allow you to do that Agent Booth. We have everything under control. We do not need more casualties."

"What makes you think I am going to become a casualty? What makes you think I am incapable of doing this?"

Forrest stood there; ready to stop him "We have people that are trained for this sort of thing."

Booth laughed at that statement. This man didn't know who he was; what he was capable of. He didn't know Booth had done this…basically written the training book for this sort of 'rescue' mission.

"I am that person." Forrest looked puzzled. "This is me. This mission is me."

"I do not understand."

Max walked up "He is the only one that is going to make it into that house, undetected. Any other person that tries will not make it. This is what Booth did. This is what he does. He protects those who cannot protect themselves."

Booth looked at Max, and the other man nodded at him. "This is me. I am this mission. I will get into that house."

* * *

He let their words sink into his thoughts. He went over their words; two, three, four times. He could not make a mistake. He could not, would not let this man die. Did not want the woman to die, if she wasn't already dead.

Sighing, he said "What are you going to need?"

"An earpiece. I need to know what is going on, and your people are going to need to know where I am so they don't try to kill me."

Forrest nodded, knowing that this was going to be the only way to end this standoff. Reaching into the parked car, he pulled out a spare earpiece and handed it to Booth. He took it and laid in the trunk beside his open bag.

Forrest and Max stood back and watched as Booth prepared for the mission. Without out saying it, the three of them recognized that this would be the most important mission of his life. He needed to get into the house, undetected, needed to get Dr. Brennan and out of the house again.

Booth disappeared into a nearby truck to change his clothes. When he emerged five minutes later neither Forrest nor Max recognized him. He was completely covered in black and grey camouflage.

Pants. Long-sleeved top. Hat. Black boots. He had even painted his face black and grey.

In a flash, Forrest saw that Booth was this mission. He now knew what he and Max were saying earlier; he finally understood. At some point in his life, this is what he had been.

He had been the man to slip into a country, rescue someone or kill someone, then escape from said country before anyone knew where the shot came from. He had saved numerous people, but at the same time probably took the lives of many people too.

It had come full circle, in a sense. He was going into this house to save the woman he obviously loved. He was armed with the knowledge that would save her, and would probably get her captor killed.

When he was ready, Booth returned to the trunk where he and Max still stood. Reaching down he grabbed the earpiece and place it in his ear. Again, he reached in the trunk and pulled out two handguns, and some knives.

He placed the knives in their specific holders, strategically placed along his waist band and one in each boot. Then when he had holstered his two weapons he turned to them.

"Its time." the three men nodded. "Let them know.'

* * *

"_Its time…let them know"_

Max started pray that those would not be the last words he heard from Booth. He needed this man to come through this, stronger than before. He needed Booth to emerge with his daughter.

Max had come to terms with the fact that he hadn't been the best father. He knew that, and he since he had come back into Tempe's life he had tried to change her view of him as a father. In the beginning nothing helped; she still thought of him as a murderer and the father who left her.

He knew it was because of Booth that her views of him had changed. He knew that the only one to get her to change her opinion of someone would be Booth. It wasn't because he had some sort of control over her, but rather he challenged her.

He challenged her opinions, and made her defend them. Even when he made her spitting mad, he was still there in her life…making her stronger. A stronger woman, not just in mind and body, but in spirit too.

She was learning that she didn't need to depend only on her mind and strength to get her through things. She could depend on someone else. She could put her 'faith' in someone else.

Max knew she did too. He knew that Temperance had placed what faith she had in Booth. Even if she didn't want to admit it, didn't want to admit she had any faith at all, she did. It was housed in one person; directed at one person.

The person that would, hopefully, bring his daughter back to him. The daughter who he needed…his granddaughter needed her too…so did Booth. Everyone needed her, even if she didn't want to admit it, people needed her.

_Pop-Pop_

Max felt his heart stop beating at the sound. What was going to happen? Who's live was forever changed? Would they survive as a whole?

-------------------

She still hadn't moved from where she had fallen almost twelve hours before. She felt it when her legs fell asleep, but didn't dare move them. She didn't want to give him any clues that she was awake.

He still thought that she was passed out, she knew that much. Every now and then he would stalk over to her body and poke her, just to see if she would respond. When he did that, it took everything she had not to respond.

She knew that there were people outside the house; surrounding it. She knew that he was resisting any form of communication. He didn't want to talk to anyone, but she couldn't figure out what was going to happen.

This was one of those times she needed Booth. He was always able to 'read' people; able to figure out what they were going to do next. She needed him here to protect her, but knew that wasn't even a possibility.

She was alone. Alone with the man that had taken everything away from her. He had taken her away from her life, the man she loved, her friends. He had taken her daughter away from her.

She chanced a look over in his direction, and was startled to see him staring back at her.

_Crap_

"I wondered if you were awake. I thought you might be, but now it confirms it."

She just stared back at him. She didn't want to do or say anything that would set him off. How long had he known that she was awake? Did he know what she was hiding under her body?

"How are you feeling? I see that the bleeding has stopped, but I cannot figure out where it is coming from."

Brennan did nothing but stare back at him. She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to think that she wanted to form some sort of crazy bond with him.

But she knew that if she ignored him, it would just anger him. She didn't need to anger him, because even through all of this he still hadn't hurt her.

Yes, he had hurt her emotionally. He had taken her daughter away from her. He had taken her away from the security of her home and life. He had taken her away from Booth, her protector.

But he had never once laid a hand on her. He hadn't done anything to physically hurt her. He thought that he had hurt her when he walked into this house, but the only one hurt was him…when she shot him.

"You shot me." way to state the oblivious, she thought, but kept to herself. "Why did you shoot me?"

"I don't know."

"Have I done anything to hurt you? Have I not fed you? Haven't I given you stuff to drink? Have you been abused?"

She looked at him, wondering if she should answer those questions truthfully. She knew that the last three questions could be answered the way he wanted, but the first one was up for debate.

"_Have I done anything to hurt you?"_

That was his first question, and she didn't know how to answer it. He had hurt her in ways she never thought possible. He had taken something away from her that she would never be able to get back. Taken that one thing that had kept her going for the past four months.

"You didn't do anything to deserve getting shot." She knew the words were a lie as they slipped out of her mouth, but hoped he wouldn't pick up on it.

"Are you sorry you shot me?"

Nodding as she spoke "Yes."

* * *

He was happy to hear her admit that she was sorry. It meant they were getting somewhere. She was starting to feel something for him, and he couldn't have been happier at that moment.

The only thing that kept clouding his mind was the fact that their house was currently surrounded by an untold number of dorky cops. He knew that he could take them out if given the opportunity, but were they going to be that stupid?

Leaving her in the living room, he started pacing in the area between the kitchen and living room. He needed to keep an eye on the back yard and also needed to make sure that Tempe didn't do anything stupid, even though he didn't think she would.

_I need to get us out of here. I need to find a way to get us away from this place. How can I do that without anyone seeing us?_

_I need to get Tempe away from all of this. She doesn't need to see this. She doesn't need to see the man I killed lying there on the front porch. _

_When I get her away from here, then we can start our life together. We can…wait._

In that moment, when he was lost in his own thoughts, something caught his eye. Something was out there, slinking through the night. Trying to come up to this house…his house.

Looking again he didn't see anything. Squeezing his eyes shut, he popped them open again and looked out into the backyard again. This time he didn't see anything.

_Did I see something?_

_No, it isn't possible. These locals aren't smart enough. They couldn't get the drop on me. They don't have the brains to rattle me._

Turning around, he made his way back into the living room and looked at Tempe. She had pulled herself into a sitting position up against a couch, and it was starting to look like the blood loss was affecting her.

he could see that she was having a hard time keeping head up, even though that could have been from loss of sleep. Then he saw that she was shaking, and in looking at her lips noticed that they were blue.

Moving towards a closet, he reached in to grab a blanket to wrap around her. Going back to her, he knelt down and began to wrap her up. Something stopped him, making him quickly look over his shoulder.

_Shit! How the hell did that happen?_

In his kitchen stood Special Agent Seeley Booth, and he was leveling a gun in his direction. Moving as quickly as he could, he grabbed Tempe up in his arms and only then did he discover the baggies. When he did, he tightened his left arm around her chest and brought his right hand up and held his gun to her head.

"What are you going to do now, _Special Agent Boo…"_

He missed it. He missed her tensing up when he grabbed her. Missed her body getting hard when he taunted Booth.

Before he knew it, even with all of his training, she had managed to drop down when he taunted the agent. She had felt it when he loosened his grip, ever so slightly. In that moment she pulled down and away from his body.

_Pop-Pop_

**A/N: What do you think so far? Is this story still exciting? It is still exciting for me, that's why I have written three chapters in one day. I was happy to get them done. So, now I think there will be a total of 35 chapters and maybe an epilogue. What do you think?**

**Comments please…I am not begging, but asking nicely.**

**Thanx**


	32. Chapter 32

**5 days after birth**

_Pop-Pop_

_Chaos._

_Bedlam._

_Pandemonium._

_Confusion._

_Mayhem._

_Horror._

Every word said and every word not said.

No one knew what happened inside that house…they didn't know what was going on even now. They didn't know if anyone was alive or not. Didn't know if they were going to find corpses or not.

Were they going to find Dr. Brennan inside this house, or was this just another wild goose chase? Even if they found the doctor, would her captor be living when they made it into the house?

They had all seen the Agent walking around. None of them knew how the two of them were connected and none of them were brave enough to ask any questions. They could see he wasn't a man to be trifled with; if any of them had questioned it before, they didn't after they caught a glimpse of him before he disappeared into the darkness.

Later, when everything was over, those who had been there sat around drinking and reliving what had gone down that day. They talked about the Agent that looked like walking death. Some of them said they thought he had dealt with stuff like that before.

Only a few of them saw him before he went into the woods. The few that did all agreed that his face had been void of any expression. He knew what his task was, and he wasn't going to fail. **He would not fail.**

* * *

_Back at the Jeffersonian, Washington D.C., the exact moment the two shots were fired_

The two guards that were working that night told a story the next day that no one could or would believe. That is, until they watched the security tapes.

Peter Hillman and Jacob Whitman had been working the night shift at the Jeffersonian when it happened. They were sitting at the check-in desk when they both felt a cold breeze flow through the building, from the direction of the Lab.

Knowing that this was impossible, Peter got up and went to investigate. He had been gone no more than thirty seconds when he came running back to the desk.

"The candles…" he started, breathless "they are all out."

"What do you mean, they are all out?" Jacob was shocked at his statement.

"They aren't lit anymore. How is that even possible?"

They both walked back into the lab and made their way to the canvas that artist had placed in it. They had both visited it numerous times, often bringing flowers and lighting candles of their own. Both felt close to the missing doctor, even though they didn't know her personally.

When the memorial came in view, Jacob was shocked to see that Peter was indeed telling the truth. Each and every candle that had been lit, including the bigger ones, had all been blown out.

But that was impossible. There was no wind in the lab, it was a sterile environment.

They both looked at each other before looking around the lab. Not seeing anyone besides themselves in it, they had no idea what to do. After another minute of looking around, Jacob came up with the solution.

"Let's relight the candles. Then we can get out of here."

The next morning they told their story to the guards that were coming to relieve them. Peter and Jacob weren't shocked when they didn't believe them, until one of them suggested going to check out the security footage.

The four of them were shocked when they reviewed the footage together.

They saw the candles all lit up, and then they were all out. They went out as if someone were sweeping their hand over them.

The four of them watched the footage multiple times trying to figure out what happened. After thirty minutes of watching the same fifteen seconds over and over they looked at each other. They all had the same question running through their minds…

_What the hell happened last night?_

* * *

Max was shaken when he heard those two shots. He didn't know who fired the weapon. He didn't know who the weapon was pointed at. He didn't know if his daughter or if Booth were the recipients of the bullets.

_How could he go on with his life if Temperance was taken from him? How could he help her if Booth was taken from her?_

He could sense the apprehension in the crowd that surrounded him. They knew as much as he did. Even those close to the house didn't know who, if anyone had been shot. What could they do with the little information they had? They couldn't attempt anything, so they just had to sit and wait.

They waited…

Max didn't want to wait. He wanted to storm the house, but knew he couldn't. Knew that if they were dead, they would be before they could get to them.

5 minutes…

He was starting to pace near the vehicle him and Booth had arrived in. Back and forth. Only taking his eyes off the house long enough to turn around.

10 minutes…

He could feel the life slipping away from him. What if there wasn't anyone alive in the house. What if he had lost his baby girl and his should-have-been son-in-law in one foul swoop? What would he tell his granddaughter? What would he tell Tempe's friends? And Russ.

Then he started to get angry. How could someone do this to her? Why would someone hate her this much? Who would hate her this much to do something like this to her?

He hoped that Booth had taken care of the maniac who had caused all of this drama, because he knew that if not he would take care of them. He hadn't felt bad when he took out McVicars, and he sure as hell wouldn't feel bad about taking out this monster for ruining his life.

He was starting to lose control over his emotions yet again. He couldn't let that happen, he knew, so he tried to reign them in. he turned away from the house for a second, that's when he heard a quite commotion. He turned around, and his heart skipped a beat.

The door was opening.

* * *

_He came for me!!! He didn't forget about me!!!_

That was all she could think. When she saw her captor reappear with the blanket she felt like someone else was there with them, but didn't know who it might have been. When she looked up in that spilt second before he did, she saw her own personal savior standing there in front of her.

She knew then, that no matter what happened she was safe. Even if she didn't make it out of this house alive she would be going back to her family. They could lay her next to her mother, and they wouldn't have to worry about where she was ever again.

When he grabbed her in his arms, she knew that she might not have a chance to get away from him. She also knew that Booth would not take any shot that would endanger her life. But she needed to get away from him; needed to get away from his touch.

She felt his arm slip around her chest, then felt the tip of his gun touch her right temple. She automatically went rigid when she felt the gun. She hardened every muscle she could manage without causing herself pain.

"_What are you going to do now, Special Agent Boo…"_

Then a split second later she felt his arm loosen, and she dropped to the ground and pulled away from him.

_Pop-Pop_

Not ten second later did she hear the bullets being fired from the gun. She heard them whizzing across the room. She heard the grasps that filled the room when the hot bullets met flesh. In the stillness of the room, she even heard as the bullets entered their target.

All she could do was cry, and she hated it. She hated the fact that of every emotion she had, all she did was cry.

Cry because it was over. Cry because she would be able to see her friends again. Cry because she would be near Booth again.

Cry for the daughter that she would never see again. Cry for the lost childhood. Cry for the memories.

She felt the air move as Booth rushed over and took control of the kidnapper. She heard the sound of metal clicking together, and realized he had pulled his handcuffs out. She heard the groans of the man lying on the floor near her as Booth pulled his arms behind him and cuffing him.

"Bones…gawd Bones…are you okay?" He had moved over to her.

She couldn't answer him. She didn't know how to answer him. What did he want her to say? Did he even care about what she had to say? Was he going to leave her now that he had found her?

She started gasping for air…unable to catch her breathes.

_What would he say when he found out about the baby? Would he hate me? I don't want him to hate me. I don't want him to leave me. I need him._

As quietly as she could, she said "Don't leave me…please…don't leave me."

-------------------

He got him. Now all he needed to do was not kill this man. He needed to have the strength to make sure this man survived; he needed to receive punishment for what he had done. But the punishment was not to come from Booth, but from the justice system. Then when this monster passed judgment would be handed down from God too.

She was going to be okay. This monster would not be able to touch her again. Even if she wasn't okay mentally and emotionally, physically he would not be able to hurt her again. He would see to it; make sure that she felt safe for the rest of her life.

Even if she didn't want him in it, he would always be there to protect her, even if it wasn't him. He would be there; shadowing her to make sure no harm came to her again.

"Bones…gawd Bones…are you okay?"

He had taken care of her captor and had slowly made his way over to her. He hadn't wanted to scare her away from him, so he stopped himself from grabbing her up into his arms when he heard her crying.

He knew that she would need time to wrap her mind around everything that had happened. She would need to adjust her thinking again, now that she was no longer under the control of that man.

He heard her start to hyperventilate and wanted to rush to help her even then. But he knew that he would have to wait until she made up her mind, or she could be lost to him forever. Then he heard a quite voice…a voice like a heartbroken angel…

"_Don't leave me…please…don't leave me." _

Kneeling down in front of her, he placed a hand on either side of her face. He ran his fingers over her cheeks and along her jawbone, needing to reassure himself that she was really in front of him. Lifting her face, he searched it until brown met blue.

They stared at each other for what seemed like hours, just drinking in the sight of each other. He wanted to remember everything about her, again.

When her gaze began to falter he moved his hands from her face, which in turn made her shudder. He realized that she must have thought he was leaving her, and he could not have her thinking that.

Sitting on the ground next to her, he reached his arms around her body and pulled her into his lap. He knew she would want to fight it but then he felt her sink into his embrace. He tightened his grip on her as she worked her hands to his shirt, holding on tight as if she feared he would disappear.

He lowered his mouth to her hair, needing to drink in her smell. He found that even though she had been missing and probably not using her normal stuff, she still smelt like the Bones he knew.

They sat there like that, not speaking for another five minutes. Neither one wanted to let go, but both knew that those outside this 'house of horrors' would be wondering what was going on.

Before getting up Bones quietly said "I lost her Booth."

"Who Bones?"

She turned and looked at him "I couldn't protect her. I tried so hard to protect her, and I failed."

Looking down into her brokenhearted blue eyes he asked "Who did you fail? You didn't fail anyone Temperance. Believe me when I say this to you…you did not fail anyone."

She sat there, he knew, taking in each and every one of his words. He knew that she was sorting through the meaning of what he had just said. He waited for her, and began to smile as recognition dawned on her face.

"You did not fail her. She is safe…thanks to you. She is safe." He wrapped his arms around her again and brought her to his chest as a fresh wave of tears flowed from her eyes.

"Where is she? Is she safe? Is she healthy? Is she being cared for? Who is with her? What does she look like? What color are her eyes? What color is her hair? Does she have all her toes and fingers? Have they checked her or run any tests on her? Booth, why are you looking at me like that? Why are you laughing at me?"

He should have been shocked at everything that had just rolled out of her mouth, but he wasn't. He looked at her with a dumbfound expression though, and he began to laugh when she twisted her mouth up. He hadn't seen that expression in such a long time, seeing it then brought tears to his eyes.

"What? Why are you crying? Is there something wrong with her? Tell me. Now."

"Hey…hey…there is nothing wrong with her." he nodded his head as if to reaffirm his words. "I am not crying either. My eyes just watered up for some reason." She gave him a look. "Fine. But I am not crying they just got a little wet because I am so happy that we found you."

"We? We who?"

"Well, Bones…lets get you out of this house first. Then you can ask all the questions you want."

Gently prodding her off his lap he stood up. Offering her his hand, he pulled her into a standing position next to him. He wrapped an arm around her waist, mostly to make sure she didn't fall but also because he never wanted to lose her again.

They made their way to the front door, but she stopped him from opening it with a gentle touch from her hand. He looked down at her, wondering what was keeping her in this house.

She looked up at him, smiled and said "I love you."

He stood there, soaking in what she had just confessed to him. Obviously he didn't answer fast enough for her because she started to turn away, and he caught the expression of hurt on her face.

"Whoa Bones. Hold up there." She looked back with tears in her eyes. "I love you too."

She smiled through her tears, moved her hand up to his face and brought her lips to his. Lightly kissing him, he knew in that moment that things would be okay between them.

So again, he reached for the door and turned the knob, slowly pulling the door open in front of them.

------------------

He knew the moment he laid his eyes on Seeley Booth he didn't have a chance in hell of getting out of that house alive. Even disregarding the bullet wound in his right leg, he didn't have a snowballs chance in hell of getting out of that house. He knew that if Booth hadn't killed him when he shot at him her father would have him taken out when he was in prison.

He wasn't scared when he saw the gun. You could say that he was even a bit happy when he saw that flash of metal. He wasn't scared of the death he thought was coming. He was welcoming it, needing it. But it never came.

_Pop-Pop_

He felt the first bullet tear through his left shoulder. He felt it tear through the muscles and get lodged in the bone. Just as that bullet hit him, the second one went into his left leg, right above his kneecap. He felt it tear through that muscle too, but then felt the sensation of a second wound. Through-n-through.

He vaguely remembered his arms being grabbed and being placed in handcuffs. He could hear her crying and damned Booth for making her cry. He knew she didn't like to cry because it made her seem weak, and she didn't want to seem weak.

He heard them talking, but couldn't hear what they were saying. Either the pain was getting to him and making him a bit loopy, or they were talking soft so he wouldn't be able to hear them.

_They were doing it to mess with his head. They knew exactly what they were doing. They wanted to show him that even though he tried to pull them apart, all of his plans had failed._

He didn't hear them anymore. He couldn't sense them anymore either. Maybe he was unconscious. Maybe he was in a coma. Maybe he was dead.

**A/N: What do you think? I had the idea for what happened in the Jeffersonian while I was writing this chapter. I hope everyone likes it too. I actually got this chapter written while I was waiting for something to download.**

**Comments are always nice. Maybe if I get a nice amount I will finish up another chapter or two tomorrow.**

**Thanx**


	33. Chapter 33

**Hoped everyone enjoyed the last chapter, because here is the next one…obliviously. I hope you like it too. If you don't, let me know with your comments.**

**As always, I do not own Bones or any characters. Still very sad.**

**5 days after birth**

Angela was taking a nap when she was woken up by little whimpers. Unsure of where she was for a split second, she looked around and quickly realized she was in the hospital room that belonged to Brennan's baby girl.

Standing quickly, she made her way over to the bassinet that held the little girl and peeked into it. She wasn't too startled to see bright green eyes staring back at her, looking at her with unending curiosity.

"Hello little one." She said as she picked up the baby. "How are you doing? Your okay daddy is out rescuing your mommy right now. Don't worry; they will both be back sometime soon."

The bright eyes kept staring at her. It was as if she understood everything that Angela was saying. Well, considering Brennan was her mother it wouldn't surprise her if she did understand everything.

Continuing on, "Your daddy would not let anything bad happen to your mommy. You should have seen him over the past few months, it was like half of his soul and heart was missing. Yes, I know that you would not be able to survive with only half a heart, but somehow he was doing it…"

Someone coughed a little, interrupting Angela. She turned and saw her husband standing in the doorway, holding what looked to be a bag of food. She motioned him over and when he reached them, smiled down at the little one who was watching him.

"Ange, are you corrupting her already?"

"Nope, I am just letting her know that her mommy and daddy will be back for her soon."

"Okay…why don't you put her back down so you can eat really quick?" She looked at him with squinted eyes. "I just want you to make sure that you are eating. I don't want anything to happen to either one of you." he said as he put his hand to her stomach.

"Jack…we are fine. Don't worry so much."

As they were eating, Angela thought back to the last six months. She thought about Brennan going missing. She thought about how everything had affected Booth. She looked at the basinet and thought about the little girl that was wiggling around in it.

She was so lost in her musings; she didn't hear the door open behind them. She only realized it when Jack grabbed her arm. She was about to reprimand him when she caught a glimpse of _something _in his eyes.

"What?!" she asked alarmed. "What's going on?"

She looked from Jack to the nurse who had come into the room. She could tell by the look on her face that something had happened. But she couldn't tell if it was something good or bad.

She quickly prayed that Brennan was okay. She needed her to be okay, because if not then they would all most likely fall. She knew that it wouldn't happen all at once, but it would happen.

"Booth found her!"

_Wait…what? He…he found her?!_

"He found her? Is she okay? Is he okay? Where are they? How is she doing? Can she talk? Has she been hurt? Where did they find her? Did they find the person who caused all of this? Did booth kill them? Did Max kill them? Jack, why aren't you answering any of my questions?"

He laughed saying "How can I answer any of your questions Ange? You won't stop talking long enough to answer them." That caused her to shut her mouth. "I don't know any more than you do, babe."

They both turned to look at the nurse who had come to deliver the news.

"All I can tell you is that they found her. We received a call from the scene to inform us that they are in the process of transporting two persons to the hospital. One male and one female. There are two gunshot wounds; they were sustained by the male. Both patients should be here within the next twenty minutes."

She left the room quietly as Angela fell into Jacks arms, crying tears of delight. Her best friend was coming back. She was okay…they would be okay.

Even if she never wanted to talk to anyone of them ever again, Brennan was coming home. She would be there…she wouldn't be lost to them.

They wouldn't have to wonder where she was. Wouldn't have to wonder if they were going to find out that she wasn't coming back. They wouldn't have to be worried that every Jane Doe that was sent to the lab might be her.

_She was okay. _

* * *

Max watched as the front door opened, and for a second he was afraid.

He was scared that maybe Booth hadn't gotten to her in time. Maybe she wasn't even in this house. Even if she was, what were the odds that she was still alive after all this time? Yes, they had her daughter in the hospital, but what if he had killed her after she gave birth?

Turning his attention back to the door, he along with everyone else involved with this operation stared intently as it was pulled open. Before he could react a large cheer went up amongst the locals and FBI alike.

Seeing his daughter, paler and thinner than he had ever seen her before in his life, brought all his unshed tears pouring out of his eyes. Booth had his arm wrapper around her, and Max could see that he was holding her up.

Medical personnel rushed up to the house, wanting to check over her and it seemed like, for once she was going to let them do their jobs. Max chuckled, knowing that she was probably cursing herself for letting someone else take care of her.

He watched as Booth helped her on to the waiting stretcher. He saw how tightly she held his hand; it was as if she was afraid he was going to disappear from her. Booth, he thought, was thinking the same thing as her and wasn't about to let go of her hand either.

Rushing over to the waiting ambulance, Max wanted to see his daughter before they took her to the hospital. He had to look into her eyes, to make sure that she was really there.

"Tempe…" he said as she was brought up to the open doors.

"Daddy…" he heard how weak she was. "Oh daddy…"

He felt the dam break and the tears rushing down his face but he didn't stop them. He didn't care who saw his display of affection towards his daughter, and he silently dared anyone to make a comment.

Glancing up at Booth, all he could do was nod.

Nod his approval of their relationship. Nod because he knew his daughter was in good hands. Nod because he knew that whoever caused this mess was taken care of.

He stepped back as he watched them load her into the ambulance, and smiled when no one dared to tell Booth he couldn't come along.

---------------

_He was taking her away from her own personal hell. He had found her. He had come to her rescue again. Just like Angela had told her many times before…he was her knight in FBI armor._

She didn't say anything as they walked out the front door, with his arm wrapped around her. She knew he probably wanted to carry her, but he knew her pride would not allow it. She had to do this…she had to show that monster that she wasn't weak. She was strong, even though he tried to make her weak.

Looking up as she walked on to the porch, she was saddened to see the body of the young deputy. She knew that he had come because of her, and he had died because of her captor.

She heard nothing as they stepped into view of those watching the house. The second she came into view of those who had come to her rescue, those who would have given their life to save whoever had been in that house, the mood quickly shifted from distressing to joyous.

She heard the shouts of the medical personal and law enforcement when they saw that she was okay. She was overcome with emotion at their display, knowing that if things had gone wrong they wouldn't be celebrating like this.

She wanted nothing more than to slip into a clean pair of pajamas with a glass of wine, while catching up on what she had missed. She wanted to be away from here; away from the prying eyes, even though they were the ones who had rescued her.

When she saw the medics rushing up to her, she wanted to fight them off. She so desperately wanted to tell them to leave her the hell alone, but she knew she couldn't. That made her so mad, that she actually **needed** medical attention, and she was prepared to lash out at those who decided to coddle her.

_But not Booth. She needed him. She wanted him there…even if he decided to be all big shot, alpha-male. She couldn't have him leave her side._

Reaching the stretcher, she knew her no choice but to get on it. She could barely walk, and didn't want to take any chances at this point. Realizing she didn't have the energy to get up there herself she felt humiliated.

She didn't want to ask for help, but knew if she didn't get on up there it would be offered. This wasn't like her…needing someone's help, and it greatly disturbed her. Booth must have sensed the subtle shift in her demeanor, because he reached around her and helped her onto the stretcher.

Before they could push him away, she made sure to grab Booth's hand. She couldn't lose him again…wouldn't lose him again. No matter what, she would not let him leave her.

Even if it meant admitting she was weak, and admitting she **needed** someone else in her life to make it whole, she would do what ever it took. Whatever he wanted her to do, she would do it.

As they reached the waiting ambulance she looked up and saw something that she had only seen once before in her life. She saw her dad, and he looked like he was about to bust.

"Tempe…" he said as she was brought up to the open doors.

"Daddy…" she hoped he didn't hear how weak she was. She hated to appear weak in anyone's eyes. "Oh daddy…"

That was all she got out before her dad burst into tears. She felt like her heart was ripping in two.

Here was this man, who for all intents and purposes should be spending the rest of his life in jail for murdering someone, openly crying. He was the type to kill, rob, con…do just about anything to get what he wanted, and here he was crying.

She watched in astonishment as he looked to Booth and nodded. She didn't know what it meant, but knew it meant something. She could tell that something had changed between the two of them, but she didn't really know what it was.

No longer was there animosity between them…the cop and the killer. They looked like they were almost friends now. It was like they had bonded over the fact that she was missing. They had joined forces to find her.

When they put her in the ambulance, she watched to see if Booth would come with her. She was almost certain that someone would try to stop him, but no one did. She didn't think she would be okay if they did anyways.

But when she looked up at him, even she could read the look in his eyes. She saw the deathly stare he gave the medics as they began loading her in. they understood that there was no way the two of them were going to be separated.

When the doors were finally shut and they were on the way to the hospital Booth looked down at her and smiled.

"I am surprised you didn't put up a bigger fight, Bones. Normally you hate being the patient."

"This time, I figured 'why fight it?' because you would get your way anyways." She gave him a small smile before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

"_This time, I figured 'why fight it?' because you would get your way anyways."_

Booth watched as Bones gave him a smile before she shut her eyes. He knew that she needed to sleep, but he wished he could see her blue eyes again. It was crazy, but he felt like he needed to see them to remind himself that she was alive.

He had been without her for the past three months…well, really it was longer than that. They had been apart for almost nine months, and thinking about it during that long ride to the hospital hurt him more than anyone would ever know.

He had driven everyone crazy after she had been kidnapped, he could admit that now. He had to keep after everyone, because he was afraid of what might happen to Bones if they stopped. He knew that no matter what they did, it wasn't up to them whether she lived or died.

Yes, they did have a say in that…and only because they were the only ones who might have been able to find her. They were the ones that would have been able to track where her kidnapper had or had not been. If they weren't quick enough to find her and she died, then it would have been their fault.

He would never be able to forgive himself if it was their fault that she died. How could he let the woman he loved more than life die because they weren't quick enough? None of them would be the same if they weren't able to save her.

He had seen how her kidnapping had affected them, and that was only when she was missing. She hadn't even been assumed dead…just missing. And yet, it had hit everyone hard.

Angela created a fantastic piece of art out of her heartbreak. She not only helped herself, she helped those around her.

Hodgins, unfortunately, started having nightmares again regarding their burial by the Gravedigger. He feared her loss would somehow do him in.

Zack became more scientific…if that was even possible. They all knew that the loss of Dr. Brennan would have him draw into himself even more.

Cam became harder as a boss, but more understanding as a friend. Even though they didn't get along at first, she counted Dr. Brennan as a close and dear friend. She knew what would happen to her employees if Brennan was not found alive.

Max was hit with the feeling like this was all his fault. If he and her mother hadn't of left her and Russ all those years ago, maybe he could have prevented all of this from happening.

Sweets was even affected. He came around the lab more, just needing to feel like his family was still there. He was still Booth's baby duck, after all, even if the mommy duck was missing at the moment.

Every time he went to sleep, he was bombarded with images from the past.

_Him giving her jasper and brainy smurf._

_Looking at her during her father's murder trial._

_Him and Parker bringing her and her family a Christmas tree to the prison._

_Pulling her out of the buried car._

_Jumping in front of the bullet that was meant for her._

_Watching her kiss Sully._

Nothing made these dreams go away, but that was okay because that meant she was real. It meant that he hadn't only imagined her. She was a real, tangible person in his life…someone that affected his life, for better or for worse.

He knew that the person he was today was because of this woman who was lying on the stretcher in front of him. She was the one that made his life worth living, and gave him a reason to wake up every single morning.

What would he have done if she would have been taken away from him? Would he have taken matters into his own hands…worse than he did back in that house of horrors? Would he have turned his back on his faith to commit the most horrible of sins?

Sighing, he looked back at his savior…his angel…**his** reason for living. He could only pray that she forgave him for everything that had happened. He knew she would have a hard time forgiving, but maybe at some point she would.

**A/N: Please tell me what you think…I know I have been bad, and I haven't posted in a while, but yet again my brain and my fingers would not agree to meet. They kept avoiding one another until tonight, when they decided to work together on this chapter.**

**Comments welcome!!!**


	34. Chapter 34

**Yes, I am back to finish up this story. Sorry it took so long to come back to it. I have been busy with my kid and working on other stories (even if they haven't been posted up here yet).**

**Hoped everyone enjoyed the last chapter, because here is the next one…obliviously. I hope you like it too. If you don't, let me know with your comments.**

**As always, I do not own Bones or any characters. Still very sad.**

**5½ days after birth**

The tension in the room was thick; all of those gathered knowing that their lives were going to change in the blink of an eye.

The administrators knew that their humble hospital was about to be inundated with press and photographers. They knew that security was going to have to be stepped up, and they were already in contact with the local FBI office in regards to that.

The doctors knew that there were two patients coming in, one male and one female. The male had the gunshot wounds but it was the female that they were more concerned about at the moment.

The nurses were praying they were going to be able to do their jobs in regards to the female patient that was coming into their hospital. They had seen the FBI agent in regards to the baby girl that had captured the hearts of those that worked in the hospital and knew he would be even more protective over her mother.

The artist, the bug guy, the coroner and the assistant…those closest to the female stood there, mostly praying she was going to be okay. Knowing that once she was back with them, with her daughter, the real healing would begin.

And the most important person of all, the one they had all been fighting for…the one who this entire 'mission' had been for, the little girl upstairs being guarded by two very mean looking FBI agents. The little girl whose mother fought to keep her alive and whose father fought to find them both.

They could do nothing but wait.

And so they did.

He knew that she was his lifeline. Knew that from the second he saw her he was hooked. Even if she didn't care about him the same way, he would never abandon her for anything…again. He knew that they still had many things to work through, but they would do it together.

No longer would they be apart when they were supposed to be together. Even if she fought him tooth and nail, and he suspected she might, he was going to be there with her through everything. He would not give anyone else the chance to take his angel away from him.

He knew they were fated to be together. His Creator made them for one another; he strongly believed that…even if she didn't. He would hold on to his faith and never let it go. It was one of the things that had kept him strong through this entire ordeal.

Looking down at the sleeping figure on the gurney in front of him he reached with his unoccupied hand and brushed some hair out of her face, and smiled when she leaned into his hand. He noticed that the grip she had on his other hand hadn't loosened up either, which let him know that she wasn't as asleep as she should have been.

Basically that meant one thing…her mind was working overtime, probably trying to dissect everything that had happened to her in the past three months since she had been gone. He knew that she would need some time to herself to go through things, but this wasn't the time to get worked up.

Looking at the EMT he nodded his head towards her and the EMT smiled and gave a nod back. Obviously this guy knew what he was asking and smiled in return.

Leaning forward he brushed his lips across her head and whispered "Bones, stop thinking so much. Let things rest for right now, and then tomorrow we can get up and begin dissecting everything that has happened."

"_Bones, stop thinking so much. Let things rest for right now, and then tomorrow we can get up and begin dissecting everything that has happened."_

He knew. He always knew, even when she tried to hide it. He always seemed to know when her mind was working overtime, but it didn't anger her in the least…this time, at least.

She knew that they would have to go through everything, probably more than once, so she was willing to let things go for now. Even if it was just for today, she would let someone else worry about it. She had to do it.

Opening her eyes she wasn't surprised when her eyes met his.

"Booth, what happened while I was gone? How is everyone? Angela? Hodgins? Zack? Cam? Sweets? My Dad?"

She saw him smile at her questions, and knew that he was proud of her. In the past she wouldn't have asked about her friends first, rather she would ask about the Jeffersonian or any cases they were currently working on.

These past three months, well longer actually, had taught her the real value of her friends. Even when she was having her mind lapses and forgetting things about her friends, she knew that they truly cared for her. She knew, in her heart if not her mind, that they would never stop looking for her. Just like they did when she and Hodgins were kidnapped, they kept at it until they found them.

"Everyone is okay. I am not going to say well, because when you went missing half of the center was gone. We were kind of scatter brained there for a little while, but we pulled ourselves together. We had to, if not for ourselves for you. We put everything into finding you and the baby." Her eyes widened. "Yes, we knew about the baby before now. Do not be angry at anyone, but it was something that we needed to know. No, we didn't just look for you because of the baby. We wanted you back with us. Okay…so on with your friends…Angela was lost for a while, but she found something that occupied her mind and time. I think you will love it when you see it. Hodgins had a difficult time with your kidnapping and started having nightmares again. Zack had to grow up quick, and even if he had his 'little boy' moments he learned a lot from you and that suppressed knowledge came pouring out when pushed. Cam became harder as a boss, but a greater friend. She realized that without you there things weren't as smooth and it took her a while to get past the fact that you might not return to us. Our baby duck was very lost. We had to bring him into our circle even further, because he was lost at Headquarters. Your dad…lets just say it is mainly because of him that we knew where you were. We would have figured it out in the end, but by that time you might have been gone."

She just laid there watching him as he told her about all of those closest to her and how they were doing. She knew that there was more that he wasn't telling her, but she knew that she would be seeing her friends in the near if not distant future and she would find out from them then.

"Oh yeah…"

She looked at him and squinted her eyes, there was something else…there always was.

"I am not the only one here."

That was not what she expected. She thought that other than her father that Booth was the only one that made the trip…to wherever she was.

"Booth, what are you talking about? Who else is here?"

He smiled and said "Angela, Hodgins, Zack and Cam. Sweets stayed behind to man the fort, so to speak. We flew in two days ago on one of Hodgins' planes when we heard the news story in regards to 'a turned in baby.' Our first stop was the hotel but the next morning we went to see the locals, so as not to step on any toes, then the regional FBI office to speak with them and then we went to the hospital. By the way, your daughter has four very anxious aunties and uncles standing guard along with two very scary and heavily armed FBI agents."

She let that sink in for a couple minutes and then a picture began to form in her mind and she couldn't help but smile. She could see her friends standing over her daughter, daring anyone to come closer than necessary. She could also see the FBI agents Booth had enlisted to guard their daughter, standing outside the room armed to the teeth and glaring at anyone who dared look in their direction.

She knew that they would be protected by this man that was sitting in front of her. This man who risked his life to rescue her. This man who gave her the greatest gift of all, even if she had denied it for the longest time.

"Thank you, Booth." Was all she said before she fell asleep, exhausted after everything that had gone on?

He was floating. Lost in a sea of memories and dreams. He didn't know what was real and what wasn't.

_Did she belong to him or not?_

_Who did the baby belong to?_

_Could it have been his?_

_Why did that crazy FBI Agent come into his house?_

_Why did he take Tempe away?_

He was lost for now, but he would wake up soon. When he did, he would feel the pain of the three bullet wounds inflicted upon his body. He would feel the pain of losing the one he 'loved.'

When he woke from his dreams he would face his nightmares.

**A/N: YES, I KNOW IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME! DON'T KILL ME OR THROW TORCHES IN MY DIRECTION…MY BRAIN JUST HASN'T BEEN IN IT RECENTLY.**

**I do need some suggestions though…I need some names for their baby, who is a girl.**

**Comments too, please.**


	35. Author's Note

**I totally lost my muse with this story…but fear not, I think it has returned to me. I was rereading my story this past weekend, and figured that I owed y'all an ending…Sorry to keep it hanging for soooo long!**


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